Orissa's check on illegal iron ore mining hits Tata Steel's ops
Press Trust of India / New Delhi Mar 11, 2010, 19:34 IST
Tata Steel today said the Orissa government's efforts to check illegal iron ore mining has hit the transportation of the mineral affecting the company's and other steel makers' operations.
"Due to the clamping of Section 144 in Banspani Railway station, the mineral rake movement through Banspani Railway station has been adversely affected for various companies including Tata Steel," the company said in a statement.
The government clamped Section 144 of CrPC in Banspani Railway station to check illegal movement of minerals, including iron ore. It is a prohibitory order, which primarily prevents assembly of five or more persons at a given place.
Tata Steel, which sources iron ore from Joda mines in the state to feed its 6.8 million-tonne plant in Jamshedpur, has its railway siding at Joda East, for which railway rakes come through Banspani Railway station.
"Our mining operations at Joda have not been affected," it added.
The steel maker further said it has taken up the matter with concerned authorities to facilitate the movement of the railway rake used for carrying iron ore.
"Tata Steel has taken up with appropriate authorities to facilitate mineral rake movement from its railway siding located at Joda East," it added.
To check illegal mining in the state, last year, Orissa government had banned such practices and clamped down on operations of hundreds of private miners.
TATA Steel Plant was set up with Iron Ore supply from Mayurbhanj district of Orissa. After mining for about a century, the mining belt in Mayurbhanj has been reduced to barren degraded land area void of vegetation and unfit for agriculture. While TATA Steel lifted the TATA empire to new global heights, the people of the Mining belt, which provided Iron Ore to TATA Steel are still struggling for survival.
Now TATA steel is carrying Iron Ore from Joda area of Keonjhar district, to reduce this area into a barren/degraded land area in the future.
It is unfortunate that TATA Steel has done nothing worth the name for these Mining areas, which played very important role for the prosperity of TATA empire. Have the TATA Sons set up any multi-speciality Hospital or any world class Technical Institution in these backward districts of Orissa?? The answer is a big NO.
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