The Hindu. Bangalore 18 July 2000
Cabinet to decide on KIOCL mining lease
By Alladi Jayasri
BANGALORE, JULY 18. The high-level meeting today to consider an extension
of the mining lease to the Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd. (KIOCL) has
decided to place the issue before the Cabinet, even as the Department of
Forests, Ecology and Environment is said to have made it clear that KIOCL's
request for denotification of parts of Kudremukh National Park cannot be
entertained.
Official sources pointed out that KIOCL -- its 30-year mining lease expired
in July 1999, and the temporary permit for 12 months expires this month --
has also sought new mining leases for Nellibeedu and Gangrikal areas which
are the source of three important rivers that feed the district.
Apart from the fact that KIOCL's presence in the region is resented by the
local community, which has not benefited in terms of employment or economic
activity, official sources conceded that the rivers Tunga, Bhadra and
Netravathi have been considerably polluted in the past three decades. There
is also a strong, active popular movement to ``retrieve'' the environment
which falls in the lap of the Western Ghats, one of the 18 ecological
hotspots of the world.
Another major reason that could keep the State Government from entertaining
the KIOCL's request for a fresh 20-year lease is the fear of being pulled
up for violating section 35(6) of the Wildlife Protection Act, which states
that no wildlife can be destroyed or damaged or exploited within a national
park or wildlife deprived of its habitat without a permit from the Chief
Wildlife Warden.
It also restrains the State Government from granting such permits until it
is satisfied that such destruction is necessary to the improvement and
better management of the wildlife therein. A considerable part of the
4,065-hectare mining area held by KIOCL falls within the 500 sq km national
park.
Meanwhile KIOCL's track record in environmental protection and management,
a commitment it made after the WPA came into force, has been nothing to
write home about. Earlier this year, a pipeline that runs through the
national park, carrying iron slurry to the Mangalore plant, sprang a leak.
This was compounded by the fact that the pipeline track was doubled in
width without informing the local forest officials. The Deputy Conservator
of Forests had booked a case against KIOCL, and slapped a hefty fine of Rs.
5 lakhs.
Today, as if to make matters worse, a fresh leak in slurry pipes has been
reported within the national park, even as the high- level meeting was
going on in Bangalore. The Chief Minister, Mr. S.M. Krishna, attended the
meeting for some time, before leaving the Chief Secretary, Mr. B.K.
Bhattacharya, to continue the proceedings.
KIOCL was granted a 30-year mining lease in 1969 by the State Government,
which expired on July 24, 1999. Months before the lease expired, KIOCL had
sought an extension for another 20 years. While granting a temporary permit
for 12 months, the State Government had made it clear that KIOCL was bound
to get an Environment Impact Assessment made, and the impact of mining
activity on the flora and fauna studied by a reputed institute.
KIOCL's case received a shot in the arm when Mr. N.K. Singh, an official in
the Prime Minister's Office, wrote to the Chief Secretary on March 31 this
year, asking the State Government to renew the lease, apart from
denotifying a good portion of the national park to expand mining operations
of KIOCL in Nellibeedu and Gangrikal, as the reserves in Kudremukh would
run out in seven to eight years.