HASSAN: Environmentalists are worried that the abrupt winding up of mining operations at Kudremukh without adequate precautions will doom the Bhadra river.

A committee set up by the Union Government rejected a proposal made by the State to extend mining at Kudremukh for five more years. Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd. (KIOCL) also made a plea in court that it be allowed to mine 54.10 hectares of unbroken forest land to ensure slope stability, but the company has not been given permission to do so.

Minister for Steel Ram Vilas Paswan informed Parliament recently that the Karnataka Government presented its views to the Monitoring Committee constituted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests as ordered by the Supreme Court. The committee rejected the Government's submission on the grounds that there will be no job loss at KIOCL. The Minister said it is not correct to say that KIOCL is being closed down, as only mining activities at Kudremukh have been stopped from January 1, 2006. The company has signed a long-term agreement with the National Mineral Development Corporation for meeting a major portion of its requirement of iron ore. Now environmentalists are worried that the coming monsoon could seriously damage the Bhadra.

Silt from the check-dams constructed to collect it and prevent it from flowing into the river is not being removed. So with the advent of the monsoon, the silt will clog up the river, they say. Moreover, KIOCL has not taken up eco-restoration measures as directed by the Supreme Court.

KIOCL also shares the opinion about the danger to the river, but its concerns are different. Defending its plea that it be allowed to mine unbroken forest land, company sources said mining will allow it to ensure slope stability and remove material that has already been mined.

According to them, KIOCL cannot just dump 30 million tonnes of ore and leave. It has to be processed and the tailings dumped into the Lakya Dam. It will take KIOCL four years to process this material. If this is not done, the material will flow into the river, and in two or three monsoons the Bhadra could end up completely clogged.

However, refuting the company claim, Kalkuli Vittal Hegde, President of Tunga-Bhadra Ulisi Horata Okkuta, an environmental group, says that further mining is not the answer to the problem of ensuring slope stability.

An independent agency appointed by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests should be given the responsibility. He notes that an expert committee constituted by the Supreme Court to submit a report recommending measures for environmental protection at Kudremukh has not visited the area so far.

(To be continued)

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