Samaj Parivartana Samudaya (SPS) and National Committee for Protection of Natural Resources (NCPNR), Citizens For Democracy (CFD) and other organisations have welcomed the Supreme Court’s order rejecting the recommendation of the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) on entirely removing the ceiling limit on mining iron ore in Karnataka.
At a press conference in Hubballi on Saturday, president of SPS and CFD S.R. Hiremath referred to the apex court’s August 26 order pertaining to writ petition no. 562 of 2009 and said that the court stated that the situation warranted a “cautious approach” and fine balance between the two goals of conservation of ecology and environment and spirit of economic development.
Mr. Hiremath said the court’s rejection of the CEC recommendation vindicated the stand taken by the petitioners (himself and Vishnu Kamath).
In its order, the court has permitted raising the limit of iron ore mining from 28 MMT to 35 MMT for Ballari district and from 7 MMT to 15 MMT for Chitradurga and Tumakuru districts, collectively.
Caution
Referring to the permission given by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister for mining in the State, Mr. Hiremath said there was a need for extreme caution in this regard and the Supreme Court should intervene to put a break to such attempts by “tainted persons” such as the former Minister Gali Janardhana Reddy, who was earlier jailed in cases of illegal mining.
Mr. Hiremath alleged that Mr. Reddy, who has been barred from entering Ballari district in connection with cases of illegal mining, was now making efforts to start mining in Andhra Pradesh and it was a matter of concern that Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy had given his consent to it.
He said the organisations fighting against illegal mining would urge the Andhra Pradesh government to take all those steps that were taken in Karnataka to check illegal mining in that State also. The SPS would continue its fight against the same in the Supreme Court, he said.
