YSRCP, TDP lock horns over bauxite mining in AP

A road laid to link a remote area in East Godavari district has sparked off heated debate among the Opposition leaders in Andhra Pradesh who questioned the rationale behind laying the 30-ft road over a stretch of 14 km from Raghavapatnam to Rowthulapudi in a record time of 24 days. While the main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has demanded a CBI probe into the issue saying it was aimed at helping YSR Congress Party-backed 'mining mafia' to steal bauxite ore from the tribal areas of East Godavari district, the ruling party stoutly denied the charge accusing former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and his partymen of trying to indulge in cheap publicity.

Principal Secretary, Mines and Geology, Gopala Krishna Dwivedi clarified that no bauxite mining is being allowed in the State and alleged that some media houses are spreading fake news. He said laterite mining is allowed in a few areas after obtaining all permissions.

TDP national president N Chandrababu Naidu strongly decried the detention of former Deputy Chief Minister N China Rajappa and former Minister Ch Ayyanna Patrudu when they went on a fact-finding mission to Rowthulapudi on Friday. TDP State president Kinjarapu Atchan Naidu said the road was laid by felling 10,000 trees just to facilitate the mining mafia to loot bauxite ore from the reserve forest area without getting legal clearances. YSRCP leaders rubbished the allegations of mining scam levelled by Chandrababu Naidu and said it was TDP which had looted the minerals of the State when it was in power. Party spokesman Gudivada Amaranth ridiculed Naidu for accusing the State Government of obstructing the TDP's fact-finding team's visit to Rowthulapu and alleged that Naidu has been taking recourse to cheap tactics to gain political mileage.

Countering the allegations, he said Naidu and TDP leaders supported the sand mafia and exploited nearly Rs 10,000 crore during the previous government and added that TDP leaders from village level were involved in it. He said it was Nara Lokesh and Ayyanna Patrudu's son who had looted laterite.

Huge deposits

The hilly tracts of Visakhapatnam and East Godavari districts have rich deposits of bauxite ore. However, several attempts to explore the mineral have failed due to fears over environmental issues, stiff resistance by local tribals and the fear of violating Samata judgement delivered by the Supreme Court. The apex court in its landmark judgement in the Samata, an NGO versus State of Andhra Pradesh against leases given to Birla Periclase near Araku Valley in 1997 in the Fifth Schedule areas ruled that the tribals, the cooperatives formed by them or the State or its instrumentalities can only mine the minerals.

While Jindal South West Aluminium Limited shelved its alumina complex project in Visakhapatnam after signing MoU with the State Government in 2005, two years later Ras-al-Khaimah Investment Authority (RAKIA) in association with its India partner Penna Cements inked another MoU to set up an alumina refinery and smelter plant at Makavarapalem, about 100 km from here. Both the projects envisaged an investment of Rs 25,000 crore. National Aluminium Company Ltd (NALCO), a public sector company, has also evinced interest to invest Rs 7,000 crore to Rs 12,000 crore if mining leases are granted.

RAKIA which formed Anrak Aluminium Limited, a special purpose vehicle and set up an alumina refinery, later filed an arbitration claiming $44.71 million claiming heavy investments made for the project, after the State Government scrapped agreement for supply of bauxite ore, the mineral required to produce aluminium, through AP Mining Development Corporation (APMDC).