Cancel mining lease to KIOCL, SAIL, VISL, urges SPS
Considering the observations of the apex court in the public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Samaj Parivartana Samudaya (SPS), the Union and State governments should immediately cancel the new mining leases given to Kuduremukh Iron Ore Company Limited (KIOCL) and SAIL/VISL, both in Sandur taluk of Ballari district, S.R. Hiremath, founder president of SPS, has said.
Speaking to presspersons in Dharwad on Tuesday, Mr. Hiremath said that the State and Union governments had permitted KIOCL to mine in 450 hectares wherein 99,000 trees would be felled in the virgin forests of Swamimalai block in Kumarswamy Range (Deodar village) and SAIL/VISL for mining in 60.7 hectares wherein over 29,000 trees would be felled in Ramalai block in Ramanadurga range in Sandur Taluk of Ballari district.
He said that already SPS had filed a PIL in the Supreme Court against the leasing of forest area for mining and the apex court on March 14, 2024, had issued a comprehensive order on the issues to be considered by the governments in such cases.
Mr. Hiremath took exception to Union Minister for Steel and Heavy Industries H.D. Kumarswamy’s act of approving the KIOCL proposal on the first day of assuming the office. “It is indeed a matter of deep concern that Mr. Kumarswamy, instead of studying the matter in detail, approved the KIOCL proposal on the very first day of his assuming office by just listening to the advice of the officials and not even remembering his promise to the organisation and villagers of Sandur earlier,” he said.
He said SPS and other like-minded organisations would urge the people of Karnataka and civil society organizations to support the legal fight in apex court and the peoples’ fight for environment protection in the interest of the future generations.
Mr. Hiremath also urged the state government to replace the chairperson of the KMERC Shalini Rajaneesh to facilitate smooth functioning of KMERC.
Final stage
Meanwhile, responding to Mr. Hiremath’s allegation on the issue during his visit to Dharwad on Tuesday, Mr. Kumaraswamy clarified that the file was cleared by the Ministry in 2017 and it had come for his signature after completing the procedure.
The Minister said he had not done anything new but had signed the proposal already cleared by the Ministry. If Mr. Hiremath had any doubts, he could directly approach him on the issue, he added. He also said there is no cause for concern about the project’s environmental impact.
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Karnataka
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Hubli
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mining
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forests
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environmental issues
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court administration