CEC opposes iron ore mining in Western Ghats

The final report of the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) on illegal mining has many points that would cheer up environmentalists and non-government organisations. The CEC, in its report submitted to the Supreme Court last weekend, has recommended deletion of reference to the Western Ghats in the earlier report submitted by the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE).

The ICFRE in its report submitted in November had indirectly suggested that the mining of iron ore in the Western Ghats may be permitted. “There is a need to commission a feasibility study to bring in superior underground mining technology which is more environment-friendly in the Western Ghats to extract 10 billion tonnes of Magnetite ore available in the country. Of this, 8 billion tonnes are in Karnataka,” ICFRE said in its report.

Dharwad-based NGO Samaja Parivartana Samudaya (SPS) had questioned the ICFRE suggestion and urged the apex court and CEC to drop references to it. The Supreme Court appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC) in its report submitted to the Apex court on February 3 rejected the suggestion by noting that “ICFRE is totally out of context and beyond its terms of reference”.

“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 Institutes of Technology (IITs),” ICFRE had said in its report.

After considering the Western Ghats as one of the identified biodiversity hotspots in the world wherein mining operations are presently not permitted, the observation is totally out of context, said the report submitted by M K Jiwrajka, member secretary, CEC. “It would be appropriate that the observations of the ICFRE should be treated as “deleted” from the EIA-Study report to avoid any possibility in the future of opening of mining operation in the areas falling in the ecologically sensitive and fragile Western Ghats,” the CEC said in its report.

Referring to the other recommendations of ICFRE such as constitution of state level committee to oversee the performance of the district level task force, research for mine rehabilitation and wild life conservation, the CEC has recommended that they need to be incorporated in the individual mining plans. The ICFRE, which is entrusted with the task of preparing mine-wise R&R plan by the Karnataka government, may be asked to prepare the supplementary environmental safeguards plan (SESP) for incorporating the additional environmental safeguards in the approved mining plant in respect of the leases not found to be involved in illegal mining.

The SESP prepared by the ICFRE with appropriate modification if any, should be considered as a part of the approved mining plan and should be binding on the lease holders, the report said.