From drkrishi@SANCHARNET.IN Sun Apr 3 12:58:18 2005 Date: Thu, 17 Mar 2005 18:57:32 +0530 From: Krishna MohanTo: nathistory-india@Princeton.EDU Subject: Kudremukh mining renewal will violate sc order [ The following text is in the "iso-8859-1" character set. ] [ Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set. ] [ Some characters may be displayed incorrectly. ] Dear Friends, Here is the report in Indian Express on the attempts of KIOCL to continue mining and the response of Wildlife First and other conservation organisations ========================================================= The New Indian Express, Bangalore Wednesday March 9,2005 KUDREMUKH MINING RENEWAL WILL VIOLATE SC ORDER: GREENS EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE Bangalore March 8: Environmentalists, who fought mining actively at Kudremukh region in Chikmagalur district, have warned the Government that any attempt to renew the mining lease beyond Dec 2005 would be a clear violation of the Supreme Court order. A memorandum submitted to Chief Secretary K.K. Mishra, the Wildlife First, noted Kannada literateur K.P. Poornachandra Tejaswi and other organisation, has requested the Government to reject the plea for continuation of mining in Kudremukh. The memorandum was submitted in the wake of Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited (KIOCL) holding a meeting with Chief Minister N. Dharam Singh, requesting the Government to extend some more time to wind up mining activity. Recalling the earlier decision of the State Government, following a debate in the Legislative Assembly and Council to wind up mining activity by Dec 2005, the memorandum stated that the decision was significant since three major rivers ^Ö Tunga, Bhadra and Netravati originate in the area. A study permitted by the State Water Resource Minister during 2002 to document the siltation levels in Bhadra river caused by mining had revealed that a staggering 2,20,530 metric tonnes of silt entered Bhadra river during the monsoon of 2002-2003, which is downstream the mining area. Analysis of the Government data for 1985 and 1986 revealed that this small sub-catchment of 6 per cent contributes 53-67 per cent of the total sediment load entering Bhadra dam, the memorandum noted. "This clearly establishes the huge negative impact of mining in a 7,000 mm rainfall area not just on the rain forests of Kudremukh but on the entire Bhadra river basin and reservoir which would affect the livelihood of lakhs of marginal farmers and poor people who are not backed by organised trade unions but whose welfare the Government has to ensure", the memorandum pointed out. In the Supreme Court, the State Government had earlier committed that mining may be permitted for five years and that too only in the broken up areas. Such an extension would carry stringent conditions including a strong monitoring mechanism and appropriate programmes for reclamation, pollution control safety of Lakya Dam, eco-restoration etc. The Supreme Court, while rejecting the company's plea to allow mining for another 20 years, had allowed mining till 2005-end, the memorandum pointed out. On the demand for 54 hectares for slope stabilisation and 370 hectares of continued mining, the Supreme Court had observed "it appears that the company is requesting that they require 54 hectares for slope stabilisation and safety and another 370 hectares for continued mining. Even if the technical reports which have been generated and paid for by the company, does point to the necessity of 54 hectares of unopened forest land for slope stability, it cannot be a valid reason to allow mineral exploitation since further mining would generate huge amounts of iron ore tailings (mud) which will again have to be dumped into the already full Lakya Dam," the memorandum pointed out." "Further we would also like to point out that in view of the bio-diversity value of Kudremukh area, the State has promised to implement a voluntary resettlement package for people residing in the area in order to reduce pressures on forests. Under these circumstances, it would be improper, and also perceived as a grossly improper move by the world's conservation community, if mining activities continue in Kudremukh." ================================ Regards Krishna Mohan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Krishna Mohan, Prabhu General Hospital, Moodabidri,Karnataka,India-574227. Phone:+91-08258-237258 e-mail: drkrishi@gmail.com or drkrishi@yahoo.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL COMMUNICATION This electronic transmission, and any documents attached hereto, may contain confidential and/or legally privileged information. The information is intended only for use by the recipient named above. If you have received this electronic message in error, please notify the sender and delete the electronic message. Any disclosure, copying, distribution, or use of the contents of information received in error is strictly prohibited.