Monday, 22 Aug 2011
TOI reported that Central Empowered Committee, an environmental panel that reports directly to the Supreme Court, on Friday recommended a complete ban on iron ore mining in Tumkur and Chitradurga districts of Karnataka, which border the now notorious Bellary district.
Agreeing with the state lokayukta, the anti corruption watchdog, the CEC filed a report before the apex court that said large scale and reckless mining was being carried out in these districts, particularly by private companies, seriously destroying the environment.
A three judge green bench headed by Chief Justice of India Mr SH Kapadia and including justices Mr Aftab Alam and Mr Swatanter Kumar sought the response of the union and the state government, as the CEC said mining was being conducted in an environmentally unsustainable manner for short-term gains.
The committee said much forest had been lost due to illegal mining of iron ore over 2,678 hectares in Tumkur and Chitradurga, with illegal mining and production in excess of the size of lease.
The report said that ''This court's July 29th order, by which mining operations have been suspended in Bellary, may be extended in respect of the mining leases in districts of Tumkur and Chitradurga.”
Submitting the CEC's report to the court, amicus curiae ADN Rao said the adverse impact on the environment in these two districts was identical to that seen in Bellary and advocated controlled mining as has been ordered by the apex court in Bellary.
This could in effect mean that all mining by private companies in Karnataka will be banned. In Bellary, after the Supreme Court order, mining is done only by state-run companies, and is meant to meet the requirement of the domestic steel industry, as export of iron ore has also been banned by the state government.
(sourced from TOI)
TOI reported that Central Empowered Committee, an environmental panel that reports directly to the Supreme Court, on Friday recommended a complete ban on iron ore mining in Tumkur and Chitradurga districts of Karnataka, which border the now notorious Bellary district.
Agreeing with the state lokayukta, the anti corruption watchdog, the CEC filed a report before the apex court that said large scale and reckless mining was being carried out in these districts, particularly by private companies, seriously destroying the environment.
A three judge green bench headed by Chief Justice of India Mr SH Kapadia and including justices Mr Aftab Alam and Mr Swatanter Kumar sought the response of the union and the state government, as the CEC said mining was being conducted in an environmentally unsustainable manner for short-term gains.
The committee said much forest had been lost due to illegal mining of iron ore over 2,678 hectares in Tumkur and Chitradurga, with illegal mining and production in excess of the size of lease.
The report said that ''This court's July 29th order, by which mining operations have been suspended in Bellary, may be extended in respect of the mining leases in districts of Tumkur and Chitradurga.”
Submitting the CEC's report to the court, amicus curiae ADN Rao said the adverse impact on the environment in these two districts was identical to that seen in Bellary and advocated controlled mining as has been ordered by the apex court in Bellary.
This could in effect mean that all mining by private companies in Karnataka will be banned. In Bellary, after the Supreme Court order, mining is done only by state-run companies, and is meant to meet the requirement of the domestic steel industry, as export of iron ore has also been banned by the state government.
(sourced from TOI)
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