Energy minister says Thar Coal project has to be environment friendly

Sindh Energy Minister Imtiaz Ahmed Sheikh has said that the Sindh government will not compromise on the protection of environment while running the Thar Coal project as environment was one of the top priorities of the Sindh government.

He maintained that the Thar Coal project had to be developed but at the same time it had to be environmentally safe.

He expressed these views on Saturday while presiding over a meeting of officers of the companies operating in Block One and Two of the Thar Coal project.

The meeting was also attended by Sindh Energy Secretary Tariq Ali Shah, the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) director general (DG), private sector environmental consultants and other officials.

The Sepa DG in his briefing on the Thar Coal project said that the strategic environmental assessment of the project was required to be done.

Abul Fazal Rizvi, the chief executive officer of the Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC), said coal was still the source of 36 per cent energy being produced all over the world. He added that his company had been fully complying with the environmental protocols and its monthly reports were also being sent to the environment department. He said that the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) had also appreciated the environmental standards of the SECMC.

It was said that extensive tree plantation campaign was also being carried out at the site of the coal mining and power generation project.

The energy minister said that the Thar Coal project was the prime project of the Sindh government as more than 54 per cent shares of the SECMC were owned by the Sindh government. He told the companies working on the Thar Coal project that the Sindh government wanted to make the project a great project for the development of the country's economy but they had to ensure the environmental protection of the area.