IANS quoted a report by a Greenpeace fact finding team said uncontrolled coal mining and thermal power plants in Madhya Pradesh Singrauli district have caused environmental destruction and health hazards to the people of the district.

Justice (retd) Mr Suresh Hosbet a former judge of the Mumbai High Court and a part of the four member fact finding team said “The community lives in the shadow of coal mine burdens with dust everywhere. They have no reliable livelihood and their health has been ruined.”

The team, on the grounds of its visit to the eastern Madhya Pradesh district in July, states ignorance of large scale ravaging of land and people.

The report comes at a time when the environment and forest ministry is mulling over fast track approval of coal mining through a Group of Ministers.

The report highlights different mining and industrial operations responsible in bringing the village life and ignoring the health impacts in the region.

With a population of over 1.1 million capacity of Singrauli thermal power plants account for around 10% of the total installed capacity of thermal plants in the country.

(Sourced from IANS)