Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL) has initiated steps to develop green patches in different collieries across Dhanbad by planting saplings on the deposits of soil and rock, also called overburden, lying near mining sites.

The top managements of the 12 mining areas of BCCL have been directed to identify the active and dormant overburdens in their respective zones by July 10.

The general managers of these 12 areas have been instructed to conduct a planting drive on at least one of the dormant sites in this monsoon.

Active overburdens refer to those dumps where soil and rocks are still being deposited as opposed to dormant overburdens, where dumping has stopped.

Sometimes these deposits can reach a height of 50 feet.

BCCL director (technical operations) Rakesh Kumar said: “We will be using a mixture of grass seeds, soil and manure to carry out a planting drive on the top of the mines overburden. Fruit trees such as amla and jamun will be planted around the overburden to beautify it. Besides mitigating the effects of pollution, the initiative will give a green look to the collieries.”

Kumar said they would name these green overburdens after religious sites such as Govardhan Pahad or Vrindavan Pahad. “We will also name the plants after gods so that people of the surrounding areas get emotionally attached to them and contribute to their conservation,” Kumar added.

Notably, BCCL had already carried out a planting drive on a mines overburden spread over 17 hectares in Lodna area in 2009.

“We will take the help of experts of Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, to implement our green drive in colliery sites. We have an MoU on environment conservation with the institute,” Kumar said.

Kumar said the initiative was part of BCCL’s comprehensive plan to bring positive changes in the environment around the mines.

“We are also considering buying a dust sucking machine from Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research to be used at some highly polluted collieries,” Kumar said.