Rowghat mining project in trouble, so is BSP expansion plan

The construction of annicut for the Rowghat iron ore mining project of Steel Authority of India (SAIL) in Chhattisgarh has plunged into troubled water after threats from Naxalites.

Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP), the flagship entity of the SAIL, had been awarded mining lease for the Rowghat deposit-F, spread over 2028.79 hectares in the Naxal-infested pocket between Kanker and Narayanpur districts in restive Bastar region.

The Rowghat mines, which have an estimated iron-ore reserve of 511 million tonne, are crucial for the BSP.

For, the reserve in its Dalli Rajhara mines was fast depleting while SAIL officials claimed that the remaining reserve would last for about five years.

The BSP had proposed to set up a 14 million tonne per annum (MTpA) mine in Rowghat.

According to officials, the company had planned to start operations in the Rowghat mines by 2014-15.

To meet the water requirement for the project, Chhattisgarh government had decided to supply 2.35 million cubic meter of water from the Nibra river. For this, a construction of annicut (small dam) was proposed near Aturgaon in Kanker district.

The water resources department is to construct the annicut for the BSP. The cost of the project had been estimated at ' 27 crore.