Ban mining in forest areas: NGO to SC

Samaj Parivartana Samudaya (SPS), a Dharwad-based NGO, has demanded an immediate stop to all mining activities in the forest areas in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

SPS, which has filed a public interest litigation in the SC against mining in the Ramgad forest area in Bellary district, has brought to the notice of the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) appointed by the SC the illegal mining and unjust land acquisition in the forest area along the Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh border.

“We have made a 499-page submission at the hearing on March 10, 2011, in the court room of CEC in New Delhi and also furnished to the CEC on March 25, 2011, at Bangalore during their visit to the state. We have provided substantial documents and notes that includes serious prima facie evidence against chief minister B S Yeddyurappa, former chief ministers H D Kumaraswamy and N Dharam Singh,” S R Hiremath, senior advisor, SPS told reporters.

He said, of the 30,565 hectares of forest land in Sandur taluk of Bellary district notified by the state forest department, 1,079 hectares have been encroached by various mining companies and some of them have applied to the state government for regularisation of their encroachments.

“In our petition to the SC we have sought the stoppage of mining in forest areas including in areas where survey and demarcation has not been done until the completion of the survey by the Survey of India and set aside the direction of ministry of environment and forests dated May 1, 2009,” he said.

“The CEC team, along with the petitioners visited Ramgad on March 26 and saw first-hand the illegal mining by Sparkline Mining Company (near Ram Mandir, Ramgad), Ramarao M Poal (over 70 acres by henchmen of Anand Singh, MLA of Hospet), Adarsha Enterprises and the spot of the incident of the FIR involving U V Singh, chief conservator of forests of Lokayukta,” Hiremath said.

The visit of the CEC to Bellary and Sandur mines confirms the stand of the petitioners that there has been illegal mining and a collapse of government machinery in Bellary district. Mining should be banned and the ill-gotten wealth confiscated. The government should take stringent actions on the guilty, he demanded.