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CPI against move to lease out iron ore mines

BHUBANESWAR: The Communist Party of India will continue its opposition to the Orissa government’s move to hand over iron ore mines on lease to South Korean steel-maker Posco which is planning to set up a 12-million tonne capacity steel mill in the State, senior party leader A. B. Bardhan said here on Thursday.

Addressing a press conference, Mr. Bardhan said his party was not opposed to mineral-based industrialisation in Orissa, but was against handing over of mineral reserves to multinational companies on lease.

Mr. Bardhan also reiterated his party’s opposition to Posco-India’s plans to establish a captive port near its proposed steel plant Jagatsinghpur district.

Speaking about the party’s programme for protection of the rights of tribal people, mineral resources and land, Mr. Bardhan announced that the Orissa unit of the party will take out Jathas from four locations in the State on September 10.

The Jathas that will originate from places such as Malkangiri, Lanjigarh, Khandadhar and Gadakujang will culminate in a public meeting in Bhubaneswar on September 28 where the party will demand for protection of the rights of the tribal people who were facing a series of problems in the recent years, Mr. Bardhan said.

The CPI would also participate in the statewide bandh called by various opposition parties on September 10, he added.

Expressing concern over the diarrhoea and cholera deaths in Rayagada, Koraput and Kalahandi districts, Mr. Bardhan said: “The death of about 500 people due to the epidemic is a grim reminder of the malnutrition which they suffer, the polluted water they consumed and the spurious medicines they had to buy”.

“We are surprised that the Orissa government is not waking up to the tragedy,” Mr. Bardhan said.

PTI adds:

In a bid to clear hurdles in allotment of Khandadhar iron ore mines to Posco, the State government has decided to start hearing the applications for prospecting licences (PL) from other interested parties next month.

The government has already sent letters asking the interested companies to appear for hearing on Khandadhar mines in Sundargarh district, a senior official said on Thursday.

Steel and Mines minister Padmanabha Behera said the necessity of conducting hearing for the PL came in the wake of a Central Government directive to expedite the project.

Mr. Behera said though there were 252 applications for the Khandadhar mines, the government had recommended PL in favour of POSCO by using its discretionary power under the Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act.

“We had already rejected 49 applications before recommending name of POSCO for the PL over Khandadhar mine,” the Minister said.

The Union Government, however, did not subscribe to Orissa government’s plea and directed it to conduct fresh hearing of all applications before making any recommendation, he said.

Mr. Behera said the Union Mines Ministry asked the Orissa government to hear petition of 252 applicants who were interested in getting PL for Khandadhar mines.

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