As public sector Northern Coalfields Limited pushes ahead with plans to expand its opencast mining project in Uttar Pradesh’s Sonbhadra district, 400 rural residents have signed a detailed ‘suggestions and objections letter’, raising questions about the government’s environmental compliance, compensation and rehabilitation plans.
Bina opencast coal mine in the background | Cracked homes of residents. Photo: Special Arrangement.
The controversy surrounding the expansion of the Bina opencast coal project in Sonbhadra has intensified. Residents have raised serious concerns about the transparency of public hearings, compliance with environmental clearance terms and the rising pollution.
New Delhi: The controversy surrounding the expansion of the proposed Bina opencast coal mining project in Sonbhadra district, Uttar Pradesh, has intensified. Affected villagers are voicing their opposition to the expansion, pointing out that existing mining operations have already polluted the land, water and air of the region and that further expansion will exacerbate the crisis.PlayNextMute
However, Northern Coalfields Limited (NCL), a subsidiary of Coal India Limited, a central government enterprise, is swiftly advancing with the expansion plan.
On March 17, the public hearing required for environmental clearance was held at Bina Stadium in Sonbhadra, attended by over 400 people.
Additional District Magistrate (ADM) Ramesh Chandra and the Regional Officer of the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB), R.K. Singh, appeared on behalf of the government at the hearing. Speaking to The Wire Hindi, Deendayal Bharti, an affected resident of Chanduar village, said, “We don’t want this mine to expand. Our water is already polluted. The air is polluted. The explosions from the mines are causing cracks in our homes.”
Deendayal submits the ‘suggestion and objection letter’ to ADM Ramesh Chandra. Photo: Special Arrangement.
Deendayal handed over a “suggestion and objection letter” signed by 300 people from Chanduar to ADM Chandra. However, the officer refused to give him a receipt.
What is in the ‘suggestion and objection letter’?
The ‘suggestions and objections letter’ submitted by the villagers serves not just as a formal document of local people’s objections, but as a comprehensive statement of the deep apprehensions, distrust and lived experiences of the local community regarding the expansion of the proposed Bina Opencast Project.
The letter opens with a critical question: on what grounds is the public hearing being conducted when the complete Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report is not available on public platforms, such as the State Pollution Control Board’s website or the Parivesh portal? This objection directly calls into question the transparency and legality of the public consultation process.
The letter repeatedly cites the stipulations of the Environmental Clearance (EC) granted in 2022 and asks whether those conditions have been met on the ground. For instance, it seeks clear answers on the current status of commitments, such as the installation of solar lights, the provision of drinking water pipelines and RO systems for purifying water in the rural areas as well as the construction and widening of roads. This suggests that the past commitments are seen as unfulfilled by locals, leading to a lack of trust in the new expansion.
The matter of employment and compensation – based on the project’s claims of economic benefits – is also pivotal to the letter. The villagers want to know how many people will receive permanent and contractual jobs as a result of the proposed expansion and how many of them will be from local or displaced families. In addition, questions have been raised about the status of compensation for land acquisition, the potential disparities in it between different social classes and the concrete plans for rehabilitation.
Health and safety concerns are also highlighted in the letter. Responses are sought on issues such as a 24-hour helpline, ambulance service and prevention of damage caused by blasting. In particular, concerning the risk of cracks and structural damage to homes due to the explosions, the villagers have demanded clarity on minimum distance requirements, compensation and relief measures.
Villagers claim that such cracks in their homes have been caused by explosions in the coal mine. Photo: Special Arrangement.
On the environmental front, serious concerns have been raised about the use of additional forest land, the impact on biodiversity and the socio-economic consequences of changes in land use. The letter also highlights the contradiction that while the EIA summary claims the absence of endangered species in the vicinity, it simultaneously acknowledges the “adverse impacts” associated with land use change.
The villagers want to know what concrete plans are in place to mitigate these impacts and whether any baseline studies were actually conducted.
Moreover, questions have been raised about the lack of information regarding issues such as comprehensive impact assessment, hydrological and groundwater studies and the relocation of schools within the project area. There is particular concern about the absence of a clear public plan regarding the relocation of schools and its impact on children.
Overall, the “suggestions and objections letter” reflects that the local community is concerned not only about environmental hazards but also about procedural transparency, adherence to previous commitments and their socio-economic prospects as a result of the expanding project. This document suggests that the public perception about the hearings conducted by the government is that they are merely a formality, with the local community’s fundamental concerns and objections yet to be satisfactorily addressed.
To obtain the government’s perspective on this issue, The Wire has sent questions to R.K. Singh, the Regional Officer of the UPPCB. This report will be updated when a response is received.
What is the project?
The NCL opencast coal mining project in Bina is located in the Duddhi Tehsil of Sonbhadra district of the state. It operates in the Singrauli coalfield area, which is located in Madhya Pradesh.
According to the plan, the proposed project area is to be expanded from 1790.377 hectares to 2079.221 hectares. The production capacity is planned to be increased from 10.5 million tons annually to 17.5 million tons annually.
This expansion is anticipated to impact several villages. These include Mishra, Kohraul, Chanduar, Barwani, Bhairava, Jamshila and Bansi.
Public hearing postponed without a reason
According to a public notice issued by the regional office of UPPCB at Sonbhadra, the public hearing for the project was scheduled to be held on February 26, 2026, at 11 am, at Bina Stadium. However, the hearing was rescheduled a day earlier.
At first, the notice for a public hearing on the expansion of the project, issued in the local edition of the prominent Dainik Bhaskar newspaper, set the date at February 26, 2026. This was postponed a day before the meeting.
On February 25, the villagers were suddenly notified that the public hearing had been postponed. A notice was posted in the village informing them of the change. However, according to the villagers, the notice was not signed by any official.
The notice of postponement was marked up to ‘regional officer’ of the UPPCL but it was not signed. The reason for this was simply said to be “unavoidable”.
It was not stated why the hearing had been postponed, nor was any official clarification provided. The villagers have claimed that such lack of information raises questions about the transparency of the entire process.
Translated by Naushin Rehman. This article, originally published on The Wire Hindi, can be read here.
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