218. Notice of Intention or proposal of exploration for methane.
(1)Whenever there is any proposal or intention to explore for presence of methane, in any coal seam or coal measure strata of any working or abandoned coal mines or part thereof, with an objective to exploit the methane or any other gases for captive, domestic or industrial purposes, the owner, agent and manager of the mine shall, not less than six months prior to the date of start of such exploration work, give notice in writing in the Form and method as may be specified by the Chief Inspector for the purpose, to the Chief Inspector and also to the Regional Inspector:Provided that in case of an abandoned mine, a notice of reopening shall also be submitted as specified under these regulations.(2)The notice so required under sub-regulation (1) shall be submitted along with-(a)a pre-feasibility report prepared by an agency recognised for the purpose, having knowledge, experience and expertise in the required fields and subjects to explore such presence of methane;(b)a report on the manner of exploration work proposed to be undertaken and the details of organisation, agency and any other contractor by which all or the parts of the jobs are proposed to be carried out within such period as planned or proposed;(c)details of machinery, equipment, instruments and apparatus along with their specifications, parameters and all relevant information, that are proposed to be used in the exploration work;(d)persons and the category of persons including officials, competent persons, officers and staff with organisation structure and chart clearly specifying duties and responsibilities thereof;(e)plans and sections of the mine prepared adhering to general requirements under these regulations, clearly showing the coal seams, coal measure strata, target seams and strata or the places of the working or abandoned mines from where the methane is proposed to be extracted, their extent and all other details as required, present and future working from where coal is or shall be extracted; and(f)plans and sections of the area prepared adhering to general requirements under these regulations, showing details of exploration work that is proposed to be undertaken indicating the proposed layout of the area over which drilling or any other exploration work are to be undertaken.(3)The Chief Inspector may by an order in writing and subject to such conditions as may be specified therein require any alteration, modification and additional requirements to be incorporated in the exploration plan or the project.(4)No exploration plan or project as mentioned in sub-regulation (3) aforesaid shall be started or undertaken unless a written order or approval in that respect is obtained from the Chief Inspector.(5)The date of starting of the execution of exploration plan or project shall be communicated forthwith to the Chief Inspector and to the Regional Inspector.
