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| Mining in Western Ghats opposed... |
| BS Reporter / Chennai/ Bangalore Jan 06, 2012, 00:55 IST |
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Dharwad-based NGO plans to contest ICFRE recommendation in SC.
The macro-environmental impact assessment (EIA) study report on Bellary submitted by the Dehra Dun-based Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), which had suggested conducting a feasibility study to exploit mining reserves in the Western Ghats, has come in for severe criticism.
The Samaj Parivartan Samudaya (SPS), which is fighting a case against the illegal mining in Karnataka through a writ petition in the apex court, has raised serious objections to ICFRE’s recommendations for a feasibility study to extract 10 billion tonnes of iron ore from the Western Ghats.
“There was neither an order from the Supreme Court nor were there any terms of reference given to the ICFRE to speak about mining in the Western Ghats. The ICFRE has gone out of its terms of reference and mentioned restarting mining in the eco-sensitive Western Ghats. We strongly object to the recommendation and we have written to the council to expunge their recommendations on the Western Ghats and submit a fresh report to the apex court,” SR Hiremath, founder of SPS and Vishnu Kamath, joint petitioner in the writ petition, said.
Both of them said besides urging the council to change their EIA report on Bellary before the next hearing in the case on January 20, they would file an interlocutory application before the Supreme Court through the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) urging the court to direct the ICFRE to amend its report.
“It’s a foolish suggestion on the part of the ICFRE to make a mention about Western Ghats as the Supreme Court had already ordered the closure of mining by state-owned KIOCL Ltd in Western Ghats way back in 2005. We want to contest all the irrational facts mentioned by ICFRE in its report that are out of terms of reference,” Kamath said.
The ICFRE in Macro EIA report on Bellary submitted to the SC in November last year had highlighted the need to commission a feasibility study in order to bring in superior underground mining technologies in the Western Ghats to extract about 10 billion tonnes of magnetite ore available in India, out of which about 8 billion tonnes are in Karnataka.
“Internationally, technologies are available and they should be used and if required, modified or adapted to suit the local conditions with suitable inputs from the Indian School of Mines (ISM) or Indian Institute of Technology (IITs),” ICFRE said in its report.
“Western Ghats are one of the 18 ecological hotspots of the world and the apex court had ordered the closure of mining in that area. Now, how can the ICFRE make a recommendation for reopening of mining there? The reference to Western Ghats by the ICFRE is completely uncalled for and unwarranted,” Hiremath said.
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