The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Campaign to seek nationalisation of mines to be launched

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Saturday, Jul 12, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Campaign to seek nationalisation of mines to be launched

Special Correspondent

Team to visit Tumkur, Chitradurga and Bellary districts
Awareness to be created on harmful effects of mining

Bangalore: A group of social activists, political party leaders and intellectuals are launching a campaign demanding ban on illegal mining with a three-day visit to Tumkur, Chitradurga and Bellary districts, where intense mining activity is on.

A delegation of 50 people, under the banner of Forum for Nationalisation of Mining, will visit the mining sites in the three districts on July 25, 26 and 27 and also hold public meetings in the areas to create awareness on how mining is potentially harmful to the environment and corrupting the entire political system. This will be preceded by a march in Bangalore to Raj Bhavan on July 21.

Speaking to reporters here on Friday, “Agni” Sridhar of the forum said that a large quantum of iron ore was being transported out of Karnataka every day, causing great environmental and economic devastation.

While the State always shifted the responsibility on the issue of nationalisation of mines to the Union Government, the State was fully empowered to monitor and ban mining activity since it was the licensing authority, he added.

All political parties and bureaucracy, Mr. Sridhar said, were hand-in-glove in illegal mining.

G.N. Nagaraj of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) said that the powerful mining lobby had the entire Government in its stranglehold, “virtually taking over the Legislature on lease.” Karnataka was being bled of its iron resources while hardly any efforts were being made to establish steel industries here.

Kodihalli Chandrashekhar of the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha and Indhudhar Honnapura of Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha said that natural resources of the State were being siphoned off for a small royalty without a thought about the future generations, like during the days of the British rule.

Mavalli Shankar of Dalit Sangharsha Samiti (Ambedkarvaada) warned that the local people in the mining areas, whose health and civic infrastructure has been wrecked by the mining activity, would take direct action and stop the trucks from carrying ore out of Karnataka if the Government did not wake up to the enormity of the issue.

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