A Group of Ministers (GoM) has restricted the environment ministry from executing the system of 'inviolate' mining areas, which would have rendered several acres of coal-bearing areas unmineable leading to a shortage of the fuel for power plants.

This is seen as a setback for environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan's efforts to secure her ministry's control on implementing stricter green norms.
The GoM headed by agriculture minister Sharad Pawar in its recent meeting has restrained the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) from executing its proposed system of inviolate areas saying the six parameters and scoring patterns identified in the draft report on such areas "appeared to be too restrictive and may lead to further curtailment of mining activities".