Ban On Dolomite Mining To Hit Steel Industry

The steel industry will shortly face a shortage of dolomite, a raw material used in various stages of steelmaking, with the West Bengal forest department ordering a total ban not only on mining of dolomite but also on its despatch from the Jayanti hills in north Bengal.

Dolomite from Jayanti hills is used by four steel plants in the eastern region.

The annual production of around 1.2 lakh tonnes meets nearly 20 per cent of the annual requirement of five lakh tonnes of high grade dolomite.

The Jayanti dolomite is low in silica and high in manganese. Rest of the supply comes from Bhutan where several Indian companies have set up dolomite mining facilities.

 

In the 14 years of mining operation, just about 1.3 million tonnes of dolomite have been raised from the Jayanti hills. But the Geological Survey of India (GSI) has estimated a total dolomite reserve of 1,000 million tonnes up to a depth of 50 meters in the 16 square kilometre area in the hills.

North Bengal Dolomite Ltd has been given licence to mine only 25 per cent of the dolomite-bearing areas with a reserve of just 70 million tonnes.

The action of the forest department which is said to be the fallout of a December 12 order of the Supreme Court has been challenged by North Bengal Dolomite Ltd (NBDL), a joint venture between the Steel Authority of India (SAIL) and the West Bengal Mineral Development & Trading Corporation Ltd.

Though the Supreme Court order was issued on December 12, 1996, the forest department took three more months to interpret the order and then decide to issue the order closing all mining activity.

It has even stopped the transportation of dolomite from the companys stockyards which is located outside the forest area. Stocks amount to over 50,000 tonnes.

North Bengal Dolomite Ltd has accused the forest department of sitting over its application for permission to carry out mining in the forest area for two years.

The Supreme Courts order of March 4 has directed all state governments to dispose off all such applications within two weeks and forward them to the Union ministry of environment and forest. The latter has been directed to dispose such applications in six weeks.

North Bengal Dolomite Ltd has complained to the state government that its application is gathering dust at the state forest department. This, it claims, is a clear violation of the courts order.