Andhra Pradesh - Visakhapatnam   

A case against bauxite mining in the Agency

VISAKHAPATNAM: Is there a real demand for alumina or aluminium in India to necessitate mining of raw material – bauxite – in the Visakha agency area?

This question is posed by editor of www.mines&communities Roger Moody of U.K., who is doing a good work in the aspect of how mining is destroying the lives of people in several parts of the world. Mr. Moody also answers the question in the negative. The reason is not just the Chinese plan to import as much alumina as possible from India at a cheap rate while preserving its own deposits of bauxite, produce aluminium and sell it back to India.

The Rus Al Khaimah, a member-country of the UAE, which is planning to set up an alumina refinery at Makavarapalem mandal in the district, is having a world class refinery in its own place, points out Mr. Moody while talking to The Hindu recently.

“RAK might not set up the refinery here but take the bauxite dug from the Visakha Agency area to the plant in the UAE. Look, no provision has been made yet for supply of water and power for the refinery that the company is planning to set up at Makavarapalem. A refinery needs a lot of water and power. We also notice that the purpose for which the land is being acquired in Makavarapalem is said to be for an Industrial Park and not alumina refinery,” he points out.

Mr. Moody, who visited the area near Lanjighar in Orissa, where the Vedanta is setting up an alumina refinery, and also the bauxite deposits area in Visakha Agency along with a local NGO Samata suspects that the bauxite mined from Visakha Agency might also go to the Orissa refinery.

Bauxite need not be mined extensively to produce alumina and aluminium as 600 tonnes of aluminium in India can be recycled, he says. India should follow the example of countries like Germany, which made recycling of aluminium compulsory. The mining is also under check in several countries, he said.

The new government in Congo suspended 60 mining contracts and appointed a committee to look into the matter of how they had been awarded. Argentina stopped mining at five open-cast mines while Peru banned foreign companies from exploiting its mineral resources.

Mr. Moody said he loved India but was pained to see villages disappearing due to mining or refineries and the villagers totally losing their life.

The Vedanta refinery at Lanjighar is yet to start commercial production but is planning to go for a three-fold expansion. In the past, it had also violated many Acts that safeguard forests, environment and people. There had been demonstrations that turned fatal for the agitating Girijans, he alleged.

Mr. Moody said the worst result of bauxite mining would be destruction of the unique system of bauxite retaining the water like a sponge and continuously feeding the rivers and other water sources of the people.

But the industry exploits the bauxite deposits. Another bad affect of mining witnessed in Salem district of Tamil Nadu is the rainwater flooding the fields as they are no more protected by the hills having bauxite deposits. The water remains stagnant in pools and destroys crops. In Goa, the fertile soil was washed away.

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