Rio Tinto denies NGO's charges on environment, rehabilitation

Mining major Rio Tinto has denied allegations made by an NGO about environment and rehabilitation issues related to the Bunder Diamond Mining project in Chhattarpur district of Madhya Pradesh.
An NGO, 'Pahal', had claimed on February 7 that the proposed move to award a contract for diamond mining at Bunder in Bundelkhand region would lead to large-scale destruction of the environment and affect the local tribal population.
"The company plays a leading role in helping set a new benchmark for sustainable development for the Bunder project. We recognise that significant obligations are attached to accessing land for mining purposes.
"To this end, we have been actively working with local communities surrounding the Bunder project to understand how we can contribute to their ongoing development," a company statement claimed here today.

Each of the 15 villages located around the project has seen a significant difference; be it availability of water, benefits of improved agricultural practices and vocational training, health and nutrition programs for youth and women, the company release said.
On the issue of environment, Rio Tinto has not yet started mining in Madhya Pradesh and neither has it engaged in illegal mining activities in contravention of the Forest Conservation Act, the release said.

The proposed Bunder lease area is actually 954 hectares which is part of the Buxwaha protected forest. There are no villages or human habitat in the proposed mine lease area which could be affected by the proposed mining, it said.

The total forest area of the proposed mine comprises of only 0.005 per cent of the total forest area of Chattarpur district.
An equivalent 954 hectares of land would be afforested as per the government's rules. The proposed mine lease area would have 25.6 hectares of green belt with around 65,000 trees.
"Since 2007, we have been spearheading studies into wildlife habitats of the Buxhawa region, identifying animal and bird species in the area and their habitats. In the first partnership of its kind in the mining industry in India, Rio Tinto has signed an MoU with the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) to support a number of wildlife management initiatives over a five year period," it said.

The Bunder diamond project was discovered in 2004 by Rio Tinto and in 2010 a State Support Agreement was signed with the Government of Madhya Pradesh as an endorsement of mutual commitment to the project.