CITING extensive ecological damage, conservationists and NGOs from India and Japan have appealed to the Japanese Prime Minister, Mr. Yoshiro Mori, to stop import of iron ore from the Kudremukh National Park.
"We are much concerned with the possible extension of mining lease in the Kudremukh National Park and the involvement of Japanese corporations in importing iron ore from this area,: Mr. Hisako Motoyama from Friends of the Earth (FoE), Japan, and Mr. Leo F. Saldanha of the Bangalore based Environment Support Group (ESG), said in a joint letter to Mr. Mori, currently on a four day visit to India.
Kudremukh Iron Ore Company, the letter claimed, had been mining in Karnataka's Kudremukh National Park for over two decades and despite "serious environmental impacts and threats to wildlife habitats" was proposing to continue mining as well as expansions.
It regretted that the Prime Minister's office here backed this proposal despite widespread opposition to mining in the Western Ghat forests, a critical watershed for three major rivers in the south - Tunga, Bhadra and Nethravathi. Japan imported over a third of the ore from the Kudremukh mines, the letter said, appealing to Mr. Mori to restrain Japanese imports and thus help protect the forests.
Noting that the two Japanese public export credit agencies, Japan Bank of International Cooperation and the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), had environemental policies, the letter, endorsed by a list of NGOs worldwide, requested Mr. Mori not to provide public support.