NoC to mine laterite near Buddhist site kicks up row
There is large scale illegal laterite mining going on in the State on which I have written numerous times to the State government without any response. There is collusion among the different departments of the State including the Mines Department and the Revenue Department
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Visakhapatnam: The reported permission given by the revenue officials to allow laterite mining near a Buddhist site in East Godavari district has kicked up a row. While officials from the Department of Archeology have already expressed their anguish over the reported decision, social activist and former IAS officer EAS Sarma on Sunday dashed off a letter to Chief Secretary Sameer Sharma seeking his immediate intervention to undo the injustice.
In the letter, Sarma, who worked as Secretary in Government of India, said, quoting local reports that permission had been given to mine near Kodavali Buddhist site which dates back to 3rd Century BC. A 14-km road laid in a record span connecting Raghava Putnam and Rowthulapudi in East Godavari had led to a big controversy sometime ago leading to allegation by TDP that the government was making the job easy to help the mining mafia to indulge in illegal mining of bauxite ore from the region.
Visakhapatnam and East Godavari districts have huge deposits of bauxite. However, so far none could undertake mining and use them to produce aluminium due to Regulation 1 of 70 under Tribal Land Transfer (Prevention) Act. The provision applies to scheduled areas.
Due to this, Jindal has backed out from its plan to set up an alumina refinery and smelter plant in Visakhapatnam-Vizianagaram region. Anrak Aluminium Ltd, a joint venture of Ras Al-Khaimah Investment Authority (RAKIA) and Penna Cements has completed work on an alumina refinery at Makavarapalem, about 90 km from Visakhapatnam but could not undertake production following cancellation of MoU by AP Mining Development Corporation to supply bauxite from mines located in the scheduled areas. Both the projects envisaged an investment of nearly Rs 25,000 crore.
Laterite is an inferior quality material used as raw material instead of bauxite ore for production of aluminium. Sarma said the Buddhist site in question has immense heritage value and pointed out that laterite mining will not only taint the remains but also threaten the stability of the heritage structures.
"There is large scale illegal laterite mining going on in the State on which I have written numerous times to the State Government without any response. There is collusion among the different departments of the State including the Mines Department and the Revenue Department. In the instant case, it appears that the mining company has obtained an irregular NOC to get a mining lease. It is possible, as usual, that mining is going on over a much larger area than permitted," he said.
The former IAS officer wanted an investigation to be ordered to ascertain the circumstances under which laterite mining has been allowed near the Buddhist site. It is ironic that the local people are agitating against the mining activity, while the officers are in collusion with the mining company, he bemoaned.
