The Hindu : Kerala News : Sudheeran not to attend all-party meet on sand-mining

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Monday, Jun 13, 2005

Kerala

Kerala

Sudheeran not to attend all-party meet on sand-mining

Special Correspondent

Discussion on mineral sand-mining project in Alappuzha

FIRM STANCE: The Congress leader V.M. Sudheeran calls it a farce.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The all-party meeting convened by Industries Minister V.K. Ebrahim Kunju to discuss the mineral sand-mining project in the Arattupuzha-Thrikunnapuzha coastal belt in Alappuzha district is a farce, the Congress leader V.M. Sudheeran has said.

The meeting had been convened to discuss the recommendations of the John Mathew Committee that had submitted a "partisan" report favouring the-+ mineral sand-mining lobby, he said. He said that he would not attend the meeting, as it would not serve any purpose.

The Industries Minister has convened the meeting on June 14 to discuss the issue of mineral sand-mining in the backdrop of the recommendations submitted by the Committee. The Committee, headed by the former High Court judge John Mathew, had been appointed to examine the controversy over the mineral sand-mining project. The project had run into trouble following protests against it.

Mr. Sudheeran said that he had opposed setting up of a committee that did not have subject experts to assess the impact of mineral sand-mining in the area hit by tsunami a few months ago.

Unless the impact on environment was properly assessed, that too in the context of the devastation caused by tsunami, the entire exercise would be meaningless, he said.

Mr. Sudheeran picked holes in the Committee's report to further his contention that it had favoured the mineral sand-mining lobby. The Committee had compared mineral sand-mining in Arattupuzha to that in Chavara. The two could not be compared as the two areas had different sets of problems, he said.

Seawalls

The report had mentioned that construction of seawalls would limit the prospects of mineral sand-mining. The Committee had overstepped its brief by recommending mining in a larger territory.

The opinion of certain organisations and individuals on the mineral sand-mining project had not been included, Mr. Sudheeran said.

According to the report, the Chief Secretary has submitted the Government's views on the project that appears to be tilted towards mining.

This appeared to be contradictory to the Chief Minister's stand that the Government had an open mind on the subject, Mr. Sudheeran said. He wanted the Government to publish the Chief Secretary's letter to the Committee. Asked whether he proposed to launch an agitation, Mr. Sudheeran said that the time for that had not yet come, as the Government had not started implementing the project.

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