CURRENT NEWS

OCTOBER 2009

 

Mining baron loses contract

Anantapur, October 31, 2009: The Anantapur division forest officer, Mr Kallol Biswas, on Friday cancelled the mining lease for Anantapur Mining Company (AMC), owned by Mr Gali Janardhan Reddy, even as he alleged that personnel from Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC), an AMC associate, had tried to attack him. AMC and Obulapuram Mining Company are owned by Mr Janardhan Reddy, who is now leading a rebellion against the Karnataka Chief Minister, Mr B.S. Yeddyurappa. Speaking to mediapersons at Rayadurgam, Mr Biswas said he had cancelled the mining lease for 6.5 hectares issued to AMC on the grounds that it had neither environment and pollution clearances nor an export permit. He alleged that the OMC personnel had come in five vehicles, obstructed his vehicle and tried to attack him near Obulapuram village in D. Hirehal mandal on Friday night. Mr Biswas and his staff had gone to Obulapuram to resolve a dispute over mining boundaries between OMC and Bellary Iron Ore Private Limited (BIOPL). He alleged that OMC personnel had tried to attack him while he was returning to Anantapur after directing the officials to demarcate the boundaries of Y. Mahabaleshwarappa, AMC and OMC. BIOPL has alleged that OMC had illegally occupied 14 acres of its mining land and had exported iron ore worth Rs 2,500 crore Mr Biswas said that OMC personnel had threatened him but he managed to escape from the spot. He said that he had complained over phone to the superintendent of police, Mr M.K. Singh, to take action against the accused. He would file a written complaint later. Responding to Mr Biswas’ charge, the OMC managing director, Mr Srinivas Reddy, said the forest officer was trying to “defame” their mining company and denied there was any attack on him. Mr Reddy said Mr Biswas had served two show cause notices to the OMC personnel.

(Source:http://www.deccanchronicle.com/hyderabad/mining-baron-loses-contract-579)

People oppose bauxite mining at Maliparbat

Koraput, October 30, 2009: Hundreds of people from four panchayats of Semliguda block in Koraput district under the banner of Maliparbat Surakshya Samiti (MSS) protested Hindalco’s Maliparbat bauxite mining operation at Doliamba village on Wednesday. According to sources, a contractor of the Hindalco Maliparbat Mines Project started mining activity a week back. At a protest meeting, MSS president Arjun Khilo said the members will continue to stage agitations in a democratic way till the mining lease of Maliparbat bauxite reserve is revoked. He said the government is yet to initiate dialogue with people despite repeated agitations since 2003. Dalaiguda panchayat sarpanch Dasi Nandibali said thousands of farmers from 22 villages are depending on agriculture and the perennial streams of Maliparbat are the feeding their crops throughout the year. Besides, most of the people are depending on the forest products of Maliparbat. The Hindalco Maliparbat Project will hit the agriculture hard in the region, he said and added about 90 percent people will lose their livelihood if mining is not stopped. MSS leader Trilochan Muduli said Hindalco Maliparbat Mines Project would provide employment to only 105 persons directly and indirectly but not a single local will be benefited. Rather the irrigation facility will be affected gradually, he said and demanded that Hindalco should establish a refinery and a smelter in the locality. It was decided to intensify the agitation if the government fails to revoke the lease deed of the company.

(Source:http://www.expressbuzz.com/)

Now, DCF cracks the whip in Bellary

Bellary, October 30, 2009: Even as the dissidence by mine lords-turned-ministers is yet to die down, the newly transferred deputy conservator of forests has begun cracking the whip on illegal mining in the district. The transfer effected by the chief minister in the mining district aggravated the brewing turmoil in the ruling party. Biswajit Mishra, who took over as the Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF) barely two days ago, has swung into action in right earnest. The Forest Department, particularly, has become more vigilant with the new incumbent at the helm. Illegal mining operators have started feeling the heat with the deputy conservator of forests instructing them to strictly follow the rule book. The officials of Forest, Mines and Geology Departments have started thorougly checking the vehicles on Sandur Road and Kallahalli checkpost. Hundreds of trucks which were transporting ores without statutory permits have been seized. Sources said more than 40 per cent of mines have either halted mining or cut down the output as there were clear indications that the operation would continue. As per rules, 16 tonnes of ore could be transported in a truck, but it was a norm in the district to carry over 20 tonnes.

The revelation
The “new-found revelation” on the part of law enforcers has resulted in dwindling truck traffic on the Hospet-Sandur stretch. More than 500 trucks used to ply per day on the route. High-tonnage vehicles are not venturing on to roads. The heightened vigil has also put a cap on mining ores over and above the stipulated quantity using high capacity machinery. Such machinery is said to have been shifted from the area of operation.

(Source:http://www.deccanherald.com/content/33401/now-dcf-cracks-whip-bellary.html)

Forest babus inspect OMC mines

Anantapur, October 30, 2009: The Anantapur divisional forest officer, Mr Kallol Biswas, on Wednesday issued two showcause notices to the Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC), seeking an explanation within three days, over illegal mining beyond its mining area of 25.98 hectares and encroaching on the area of Bellary Iron Ore Private Limited, and road construction from its company to the adjacent Karnataka state border without the government’s permission. It was mentioned in the showcause notice that the road had been laid to transport iron ore from the OMC, violating inter-state boundary Acts and regulations. Mr Biswas questioned in the notice why the OMC’s mining activity should not be suspended and appropriate legal action taken. Forest department officials issued the showcause notices on receipt of a complaint from Vibuhutigudda mines. The additional principal chief conservator of forests, Mr Omkar Singh, and Mr Kallol Biswas inspected five mining areas along the AP-Karnataka border on Thursday. They clearly identified the village boundary pillars between H Siddapuram and Obulapuram. It is learnt that they will give a report to the Central forest and environment ministry in a week. Meanwhile, other mining owners asked why forest officials had issued showcause notices to OMC on Wednesday, though its illegal mining activity for rich iron ore in the land of the Bellary firm was going on two years and it had exported Rs 2,500 crores worth ore. It is learnt that a CBI team has camped in Anantapur to investigate the role of forest officials in OMC’s illegal mining.

(Source:http://www.deccanchronicle.com/hyderabad/forest-babus-inspect-omc-mines-344)

Permission for sand mining mandatory

Kolar, October 30, 2009: Deputy Commissioner N Prabhakar on Thursday said that prior permission from the district administration is mandatory to carry out sand mining in private patta land. The sanction is compulsory even for sand mining in the land unfit for agriculture. The permission should be obtained from competent authorities on payment of Rs 250 to take up mining on tankbed. In a meeting held here on Thursday the DC N Prabhakar directed the tahsildar, forest, mining, forest and geology departments to take stringent action against those who take up illegal sand mining and transporting the same. He directed the officials to immediately shift some crushers to the nearby villages as it is not possible to shift all the 60 crushers to a safe zone as directed by the Supreme Court. He also suggested them to submit a proposal seeking exemption for the remaining crushers. ZP Chief Executive Officer G V Rangarao, SPK P Puttaswamy, Additional DC S N Gangadharaiah, officers of Pollution Control Board and Geology department were present.

(Source:http://www.deccanherald.com/content/33339/permission-sand-mining-mandatory.html)

Green cess won’t be scrapped: Kamat

Panjim, October 30, 2009: The State government has allayed apprehensions that it might give in to the mining lobby and scrap the imposition of green cess on mining rejects.  “There is no point of scrapping it. We are seeking opinion of the legal department before its implementation. Once we get the approval from the Legal Department, we will implement the green cess,” Chief Minister Digambar Kamat told reporters in a press briefing this evening. He said that the imposition of taxes on mines being a Central subject it is being studied by the Law Department. “We don’t want any one to go in the court and challenge the State government as we’ll not achieve our objective,” the CM added. When asked whether the delayed implementation of this tax will affect the revenue collection, Kamat said that the revenue collection of the State will not be affected with the delayed implementation of the said tax as the royalties on the ore has hiked a lot. The chief minister presenting additional budget on the floor of the House, during the monsoon session this year, had projected Rs 375 crore tax collection through the land replenishment cum green environment charge and had said that the imposition of such tax is one of the measure to make up for the loss suffered by the State and its people over the years due to mining rejects. As per the proposal, the green cess is at the rate of Rs 30 per tonne of the reject – a one time payment. However this new tax proposal had met strong opposition from the mine owners and industrial bodies. Amendment: Meanwhile, the authorities are toying with an idea to levy the charge every year. Sources said this was among the suggestions that have come to the government on the issue. The sources further said that the payment would be on recurring basis  which would provide some relief to the mining firms. For the government too, it would provide a steady annual income. “This is being studies”.

(Source:http://oheraldo.in/pagedetails.asp?nid=29302&cid=2)

Lock looms on coal mountain

Calcutta, October 29, 2009: The Bengal government has taken the first tangible step to facilitate an airport project which could bury forever coal sufficient to meet the country’s demand for nearly four years despite claims that the issue had been “resolved”.  The government this week handed over 533.51 acres — the first tranche of over 3,000 acres — to Bengal Aerotropolis Project Ltd for developing an airport city at Andal in Burdwan. Singapore’s Changi is a strategic equity partner. The land parcel that changed hands will be the site for the airport itself, expected to come up over 650 acres. However, the project area also sits over huge coal reserves — an issue Coal India Ltd (CIL) had raised when the airport city was conceived. A meeting convened by the Bengal chief secretary on April 8 had “reasonably addressed” the concerns of CIL by slicing 400 acres off the project to save the coal reserves. The chief secretary wrote to the civil aviation secretary on April 23 saying the issue had been resolved and the CIL representative had agreed to the realignment. But coal industry sources point out that the realignment will help save only 300 million tonnes of coal. Nearly seven times that quantity (2,055 million tonnes) will still be locked under the soil, out of reach for use by the country if the project comes up. The size of the buried natural resource — whose location cannot be shifted unlike that of an airport — is equivalent to what the country uses up in four years. India now imports over 50 million tonnes of coal to meet domestic demand. Keeping the fate of the reserves in mind, the government had agreed to relocate three steel plant projects but chose to retain the airport venture. Advocates of the airport city put the reserves at 1,400 million tonnes, not 2,055 million tonnes still locked. But an industry expert pointed out: “The lower figure is reached by estimating what lies vertically below the surface. But you will need a much larger space — like a pyramid — to prevent subsidence while mining.”  Another argument put forth against mining is depth. Some contend that the coal deposits are 600-1,250 metres below the surface, which is too deep to mine. But a CIL official said: “The argument is not valid. We are mining coal from a depth of 800 metres at our Chinakuri mine near Asansol.”

(Source:http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091029/jsp/frontpage/story_11673201.jsp)

SAIL obtains iron ore licence in key state

Raipur, October 28, 2009: : Steel Authority of India Ltd, the country's biggest domestic steel maker, has obtained a 20-year iron ore mining licence in a key state that will help boost output, a senior company official said. "Bhilai Steel Plant has been granted Rowghat Deposit-F mining lease over an area of 2,028.797 hectare situated in Kanker and Narayanpur districts of Chhattisgarh by the state government for a period of 20 years," M.K. Bindu, executive director of mines, told Reuters on Wednesday. Chhattisgarh, in central India, houses one of SAIL's five integrated steel plants at Bhilai that uses iron ore. In August, SAIL received a key approval from the federal environment ministry that paved the way for the state licence. Bindu said iron ore is expected to be extracted from the mine, which has estimated reserves of 511 million tonnes of ore, in four years. The Bhilai plant plans to raise its capacity to 7.5 million tonnes by 2011/12 from about 5.3 million tonnes now. SAIL produced a total of 13.4 million tonnes of crude steel in 2008/09, down from 14 million tonnes in the previous year. Chairman S.K. Roongta has said the company planned to expand capacity in the near future to feed expected rise in demand.

(Source:http://in.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idINIndia-43499120091028)

Bhilai Steel gets Rowghat mining lease

Raipur, October 28, 2009: Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP), the flagship entity of the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), has been awarded mining lease for the Rowghat deposit-F spread over 2028.79 hectares in a pocket between Kanker and Narayanpur districts of Chhattisgarh. The Mineral Resources Department of Chhattisgarh government has granted the mining lease for a period of 20 years after getting the due Environmental Clearance and Forestry Clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF). The BSP had proposed to set up a 14 million tonnes per annum (MTpA) mine in Rowghat. However, following the MoEF's directives, it would not set up beneficiation plant and tailing dam at Rowghat and would confine to mining, primary and secondary crushing in order to significantly reduce the damage to flora and fauna. The company would transport the iron-ore to its beneficiation plant located at Dalli Rajhara—about 90 km from Rowghat, thereby increasing the capital cost as well as the operating cost of the project. The development has come as a breather for the BSP which has been reeling under raw material crises. At present, the total iron ore reserve left with BSP's Dalli-Rajhara mines is around 50 million tonnes, which the company officials said would not last for more than five years. The Rowghat mines have a reserve of about 511 million tonnes. The execution of the Rowghat Deposit-F mining lease deed will ensure an uninterrupted supply of iron ore to BSP for the next 20 years. The new mines would help the company to meet raw material requirement for the expansion. The BSP is undertaking the expansion to take its capacity to 7.5 million tonnes from the current 4.6 million tonnes annually. The expansion is in line with the SAIL's target of achieving a capacity of 26 million tonnes by 2010.

(Source:http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/bhilai-steel-gets-rowghat-mining-lease/374442/)

Vedanta: Church enquiry to Orissa mine site illegal

October 28, 2009: Church of England inquiring the alumina refinery of Vedanta Resources in Orissa's Niyamgiri Hills is illegal, says its promoter Anil Agarwal. The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams had earlier expressed concern over the Church's investment with the company that is facing criticism from all quarters for "turning a sacred mountain into a mine site." The Church's officials were ordered to travel to Kalanidhi district and investigate on the allegations. But, Agarwal says such an enquiry is against the constitution of India and also violates the guidelines of the Supreme Court. However, the chief executive officer of Vedanta Aluminium at Lanjigarh, Mukesh Kumar, says the company respects its investors and it is willing to show the project area to the Church officials. Kumar opined that if the Church was unhappy with the project, they were welcome to withdraw its investment. Nonetheless, the company's finance will not be affected, he says. Several human rights organisations and environmental activists are urging the Church of England to withdraw its £2.5m share in the mining firm that plans an open-cast mine on the mountain that is home to 8,000-strong Dongria Kondh tribe. Survival International, Amnesty International, Action Aid and others warn that the mine can destroy the area's ecosystem and threaten the future of the tribal people. Survival International alleges that Vedanta has failed to consider the implications of its activities in respect of the Dongria Kondh.  Incidentally, the mine project has already been approved by the Supreme Court of India and by the State of Orissa.

(Source:http://in.christiantoday.com/articles/vedanta-church-enquiry-to-orissa-mine-site-illegal/4704.htm)

JSPL in race for Mongolia's coal mine

Kolkata, October 27, 2009: Naveen Jindal-controlled Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL) is in the race for Mongolia’s Tavan Tolgoi coal project, one of the 10 biggest deposits in the world. Vikrant Gujral, vice-chairman and CEO, JSPL, said: “We had made a presentation before the Group of Ministers. We have been informed that we are one of the shortlisted bidders for a 49 per cent stake in Tavan Tolgoi. This is a big deposit and we are the only Indian company to be shortlisted.” Tavan Tolgoi has six billion tonnes of coal, of which two billion is coking. The balance 51 per cent stake would be held by a government-owned company. Though Gujral did not specify the value of the deal, pointing out that this would have to be studied, industry sources said it could run into billions of dollars as it is an operational mine. He said most Indian companies have been eyeing smaller mining companies, while adding BHP and Brazil’s Vale were also in the fray. Gujral said the coking coal could be transported to cater to JSPL’s steel plants in India. However, he pointed out that Mongolia is a land-locked country and the mineral would have to be routed through either China or Russia. JSPL operates a three-million-tonne plant at Chhattisgarh and has lined up two six-million-tonne plants for Orissa and Jharkhand, for which Memoranda of Understanding have been signed. Moreover, there are plans to add another three million tonnes at Chhattisgarh. Indian steel companies have been scouting for raw material assets overseas in the past few years. Coking coal accounts for around 50 per cent of the raw material costs and proven reserves of prime coking coal in India are at 4.6 billion tonnes, but production is around seven million tonnes only. Also, the quality of Indian coking coal is poor and has to be blended with imported coal.

(Source:http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/jspl-in-race-for-mongolias-coal-mine/374415/)

Mining sector urged to improve safety measures

New Delhi, October 25, 2009: The Vice-President, Mr. M. Hamid Ansari, has said that while the Indian mining industry has achieved phenomenal progress in production and productivity, accidents are also occurring.  Addressing a function organised by the Directorate General of Mines Safety (DGMS), Mr. Ansari pointed out the death rate and serious injury rate/ thousand persons had increased during this decade. “This needs to be addressed with alacrity, notwithstanding the progress made on safety issues in the decades after the nationalisation of coal mines and also considering the fact that our record is better than that of many other coal-producing countries,” said Mr. Ansari. The Vice-President expressed his concern that the total number of inspections carried out by the DGMS had come down by a third in the last 15 years – from 9,942 in 1991 to 7041 in 2006. The paucity of human resources is an obvious bottleneck to inspection work, he said.

Paucity of inspectors

The DGMS Web site notes that “keeping in mind the limited resources available by way of inspecting officers and associated infrastructure, it is humanly impossible for them to ensure compliance by management at all times and at all work places.”  Mr Ansari called upon them to correct this situation at the earliest and empower the regulator for mines safety to recruit the requisite talent. “This would ensure that lack of personnel does not hinder inspections and thereby cause more human fatalities and casualties,” he added. Later presenting The National Safety Awards (Mines), Mr Ansari praised the efforts of the DGMS in organising safety campaigns and observing safety weeks, holding first aid and rescue competitions and undertaking awareness and information dissemination.

(Source:http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2009/10/26/stories/2009102651141300.htm)

Govt invites KSU for talks over uranium mining

Shillong, October 22, 09: The Meghalaya Government today called the Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) for talks to put an end to its agitational programme that has hit the state over the past few days. “We are ready to resolve their (KSU) grievances through dialogue,” Prestone Tynsong, a senior Cabinet minister  in the Meghalaya United Alliance government said. KSU has been protesting the government’s move to lease 422 hectares of land in Uranium-rich West Khasi Hills district to Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) for 30 years. The KSU in response has called night road blockade (9 pm to 5am) from last Tuesday. The night blockade would end tomorrow at 5 am. During the last few days, during the road blockade, several government offices and vehicles were torched. Tynsong, however, said the proposed dialogue would only be held after the arrival of Chief Minister DD Lapang, who is on official trip to Singapore. Reacting to the government offer for talks, KSU president Samuel B Jyrwa said it was a welcome sign, but added that the students’ body would not climb down from its demand. "We will continue with the people’s movement until the government fulfils our demand and revoke its decision to lease the land to UCIL,” the KSU Chief said. The UCIL meanwhile has offered to invest Rs 209 crore to undertake pre-developmental project activities near the proposed mining area in West Khasi Hills and build schools, hospitals, roads and other infrastructure.

(Source :http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=oct2309/ne1)

Quarry endangers temple

Tirupati, October 22, 09: District authorities have promised to preserve the temple of Vakula Devi at Peruru hillock near Tirupati and protect it from the impact of quarrying. Legends say that Goddess Vakula Devi is the mother of Lord Venkateswara. The Chittoor district joint collector, Mr Suresh Kumar, on Thursday visited the 12th century temple situated on a hillock which comes under the Pathakalva and Peruru panchayats of Tirupati rural mandal. He told the mediapersons that the temple, surrounded by the illegal quarrying sites, was in poor state. “It would be developed once the survey fixing its boundaries is completed,” he said. The state government had imposed ban on quarrying activities under Section 145 around the site recently after the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam authorities sought protection of the historical temple. Mr Suresh Kumar said that at present no quarry lease license was given to anybody at Peruru hillock site. But it is learnt that a hillock near the temple has been given to one Mr Janardhan Reddy, who pays Rs 1.16 lakh annually to the government.

(Source:http://www.deccanchronicle.com/hyderabad/quarry-endangers-temple-159#)

Stay on sand mining

Bangalore, October 21, 2009: The High Court on Wednesday ordered a stay on sand mining for violating the terms of conditional approval.

Lakappa Kariennavar had filed a PIL, challenging the sand mining undertaken at Survey 174/175/176 at Jamdaddi village in Jamkhandi taluk in Bagalkot district. The petitioner argued that Suresh Akkivat, had been given conditional permission for mining sand, which excluded the use of boats or any mechanised equipment for the purpose. These conditions were violated, the petitioner stated. A division bench comprising Chief Justice P D Dinakaran and Justice Mohan Shantanagoudar admitted the PIL and granted an injunction on the mining. The hearing has been adjourned.

(Source:http://www.deccanherald.com/content/31709/stay-sand-mining.html)

Coal mining 'impossible' at Tadoba

Mumbai, October 20, 2009: The Adani Mines Private Ltd will have to do the "impossible" if it has to go ahead with its proposed coal mining project at Lohara, on the outskirts of Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR), in Chandrapur district. It will have to "create a similar forest with identical biodiversity" to maintain continuity of the forest corridor stretching to South India. A recent state forest department report has officials highlighting the possible threat to the pristine forest cover and the biodiversity of the region. They expressed fear that wildlife, and most importantly, Asia's only teak wood gene pool -- there are just 12 of them in the whole world -- will be destroyed once the mining activities begin. "The only option is to create a similar forest with identical biodiversity in the vicinity, and then start mining," said a senior official of the forest department. "This is something which cannot be done." A portion of the coal block, falling inside the proposed buffer zone of TATR, raises another insurmountable hurdle to the proposed project. "The 1600 hectares of land, being leased out to the company to mine coal for its proposed thermal power project at Tiroda in Gondia district, supports rich forest and wide-ranging biodiversity, including a sizeable tiger population," said Shyam Pandharipande, a senior environmentalist from Nagpur. "Nearly 1.3 million full-grown trees will have to be cut down to clear the land for mining operations, which in turn are bound to damage to the ecosystem both above and below the ground."  The environmental cost of the project, mentioned by the company in its environmental impact analysis, is a mind-boggling Rs2.78 billion. The buffer zone of the proposed coal mine covers an area of six reserve forests. "Also, under imminent threat is Asia's only teak wood gene pool (National Germ-plasm Bank), which houses 279 mother plants with three replicas of each," the official said.

(Source:http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_coal-mining-impossible-at-tadoba_1300716)

Irked Ladfe-Bicholim locals block mining trucks

Mayem, October 20, 2009:  Irked with pollution caused in the village due to mining transportation, residents of Ladfe-Bicholim on Tuesday blocked mining trucks from Kalne-Dodamarg, Maharashtra. It may be recalled that the residents had last week submitted a memorandum to Bicholim Deputy Collector D H Kenaudekar demanding a halt on mining transportation through their village. However, the transport continued plying through Ladfe and on Tuesday at about 10 am, about 150 agitated villagers came on the road and blocked around 50 ore-loaded trucks at Ladfe. Bicholim MLA Rajesh Patnekar rushed to the site and supported the agitation. Bicholim Mamlatdar Pramod Bhat, Bicholim Police PI Madkaikar, Bicholim Congress Committee President Naresh Sawal also rushed to the site. Residents fear the heavy mining traffic would pose a threat to the people at the temple, milk society, primary school and shishuvatika school, all located along the roadside. “Besides, the village and fields are also near the road,” complained the residents. The villagers have demanded a complete stoppage of mining transportation through the village, which is being regulated from Maharashtra. Later, Mamlatdar Pramod Bhat had a discussion with the agitators, who demanded that the transport contractor should be called at the site, but he was not available. In order to solve the problem, Mamlatdar Bhat has convened a meeting in his cabin at Bicholim on Wednesday. However, the villagers including MLA Patnekar and Sawal strongly suggested to stop the mining transport and no compromise should be made. BICHOLIM CORRESPONDENT ADDS: Tension gripped Bordem-Bicholim late Tuesday evening, as several mining trucks plying from Maharastra to Bicholim were blocked by an irate mob at Bordem. The incident occurred at about 8.30 pm, when a mining truck in a bid to overtake was about to hit a motorcycle rider at Bordem. The situation became tense, as the truck driver in turn tried to argue with the motorcycle rider. Soon a mob gathered at the site and punctured the tyres of the truck. Anticipating trouble, the truck driver fled from the site. The mob gathered at the site stopped all the trucks plying from the road. The entire traffic long the road, including buses and private vehicles, were stopped. Speaking to reporters, Anand Narvekar of Shiv Sagar group from Bicholim expressed displeasure over the mining trucks plying along the narrow roads in Bicholim. “We will submit a memorandum to the Bicholim Mamlatdar on Wednesday to take steps against the mining transport in Bicholim,” said Narvekar.

(Source:http://oheraldo.in/pagedetails.asp?nid=28857&cid=260

Despite HC ban, mining in river beds continues

Dehradun, October 20, 2009 : In blatant violation of orders passed by the Uttarakhand High Court regarding the ban on mining in Dehradun, mining activities in river beds have continued in various locations in the District and Vikasnagar development block.  Observers state that the so-called hindrance caused to building and development works due to the shortage of sand and building material mined from riverbeds in the District owing to the mining ban is artificial. Neither the mining has stopped nor is there a real shortage of the building materials required to undertake the building and development works which have reportedly been stalled because of the repercussion of the ban on mining ordered by the High Court. It is pertinent to mention that the Nainital High Court has banned all mining activity in the Dehradun valley. Every year the District administration bans the mining of building materials from riverbeds during the monsoon season but this year the period of the seasonal ban has been extended along with the ban implemented according to the orders of the High Court. However as evident in many locations and various riverbeds in Dehradun and Vikasnagar, the mining of stones, sand, gravel and building materials from riverbeds has continued blatantly without respite irrespective of the ban on the same. Though some local politicians staged protest demonstration at the office of the District Magistrate against the ban on mining from riverbeds, the official ban has continued to be in effect. However, the effect has been limited to official documentation as is evident in many riverbed locations in Dehradun District where trailers pulled by tractors are loaded with stones, sand, gravel and other items used as construction material during broad daylight without any inconvenience.The District administration states that it will undertake strict action to prevent such violation of the ban on mining but the sheer level of violation which has continued inspite of the ban is too large to be affected by a few cases of action against the violators, aver observers. While building contractors working for MCD, MDDA and PWD are reportedly facing the negative repercussion of the shortage of construction material caused by the ban on mining, other contractors have evidently not been affected by the same repercussion of the mining ban which has been existing officially but not in fact.  Observers allege that the so called shortage in construction material reportedly caused by the ban on mining has been created artificially at the behest of the influential mining mafia with strong political and financial support.

(Source:http://www.dailypioneer.com/209971/Despite-HC-ban-mining-in-river-beds-continues.html)

States may get free hand in mine allocation

Kolkata, October 20, 2009: The Centre is planning to introduce sweeping changes in mine allocations, giving states unbridled power in deciding on the beneficiary for all minerals, except coal and atomic minerals. According to the new Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulation) Bill, being finalised by the government and likely to be placed in the winter session of Parliament, the central government approval would not be required for mine allocation, which includes iron ore. India has approximately 23.59 billion tonnes of iron ore scattered over Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and Goa. The move would affect steel companies, as iron ore is a major input material. Some of the companies like Tata Steel (Chhattisgarh), JSW Steel (Jharkhand) and Essar Steel (Chhattisgarh) bagged prospecting licences for iron ore over the past year. But enormous delay in mine allocation had prompted them and others to scout for resources overseas. But there are less fortunate projects that have been awaiting mine allocation for the past four-five years. South Korean steel major Posco signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Orissa government in 2005, but is yet to bag the mines. Tata Steel signed an MoU with the Orissa government for its Kalinganagar project in 2004, but had not been allocated mines. As of now, the state government grants the lease after prior approval from the central government. The new Act would also have the provision for auctioning the lease. Sources close to the development said the new Act was being finalised and this was one of the primary changes being planned. The idea was to regulate the sector but move away from controlling the sector. “We will lay down broad parameters and the state will have the powers to grant the lease within the broad guidelines. We want to decentralise the sector,” said a mining ministry source. The government was inviting comments from the stakeholders and simultaneously holding workshops on the new norms. The changes have evoked mixed reactions from the industry. Tata Metaliks Managing Director Harsh K Jha said if the lease was granted in a non-discretionary manner by the state and hastened the process, then it would augur well for the industry. However, public sector companies were more skeptical about the wide powers being given to the state. A top PSU official said these were resources of the central government and should be handled by it. Jha pointed out: “In some cases, applications had been pending with the central government for many months or even a year.” There were reservations on the provision for auction from the industry. Jha said it could prevent companies having genuine and not as much resources as other companies from bagging resources.

(Source:http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/states-may-get-free-hand-in-mine-allocation/373765/)

CIL against use of Jamuria coal bed for Videocon plant

Bhubaneswar October 20, 2009:  The Videocon Group’s move to set up a 3-million-tonne-per-annum steel plant and a 1,200-Mw power project over a patch of coal-bearing area at Jamuria, near Asansol (West Bengal), has been opposed by state-owned Coal India Limited (CIL), the world’s single-largest coal miner. “CIL is opposed to any project coming up on a coal-bearing area. The site identified for Videocon Group’s steel plant and power project has about 600 million tonnes of coal reserves under the command area of Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL), a subsidiary of CIL. Videocon cannot use the coal reserves as it has no expertise in coal mining and its project can be realigned or relocated,” a highly placed CIL official told Business Standard. The West Bengal government had assured them that no industrial project would be developed on coal-bearing areas, the official added. “Videocon has not approached us on the matter and we are not in talks with them. CIL cannot agree to any proposal wherein an industrial project comes up on a coal-bearing area,” the official pointed out. Earlier, the first airport city project in the country to be developed on more than 2,000 acres in the Asansol-Durgapur region by a special purpose vehicle called Bengal Aerotropolis Projects Ltd had also hit a similar roadblock, as the identified site contained coal reserves. The Rs 10,000-crore project had to be subsequently realigned to leave out the coal-bearing areas. Videocon Group Chairman Venugopal Dhoot had said last week that using coal found at the project site was the best solution for the company, as this would obviate the need for allocation of a coal block for its steel plant and power project.

(Source:http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cil-against-usejamuria-coal-bed-for-videocon-plant/373753/)

Centre advises Orissa to meet Posco, ArcelorMittal

New Delhi, October 20, 2009:  At the advice of the Centre, the Orissa government is convening a meeting this week with Posco and ArcelorMittal to resolve issues like land acquisition and mining leases which are blocking Rs 1 lakh crore investment plans by the two global steel giants in the state. “We have requested the state government. They are calling the meeting...The issues hurting the two projects would be discussed,” Steel Secretary P K Rastogi said. The meeting in Bhuba-neswar is likely be held on October 23 and would be chaired by the State Chief Secretary, T K Mishra. Senior officials of the Union Steel Ministry would also be present. Collectors from Keonjhar and Jagatsinghpur, the proposed locations of the ArcelorMittal and Posco projects respectively, have also been asked to attend the meeting, Rastogi said. After ArcelorMittal threatened earlier this month to abandon its over Rs 80,000-crore steel projects in Orissa and Jharkhand and move elsewhere in the country, the Centre had held talks with officials of the world's largest steel maker. Earlier, talks with Posco officials were also held. Regulatory hurdles, including iron ore mining leases and protests over land acquisition have disappointed both ArcelorMittal and South Korean giant Posco.

(Source:http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/centre-advises-orissa-to-meet-posco-arcelormittal/373763/)

Orissa mines dept declares reward for whistleblowers

Bhubaneswar October 19, 2009:  Yet to figure out the extent of the multi-crore mining scam, Orissa Steel and Mines department has announced a reward for whistleblowers among general public and government officials who provide information on illegal mining.  The department, which is now probing illegal iron, manganese and chromite mines in Orissa, along with the vigilance department has come out with a notification under which general public would be given 4 per cent of the total worth of seized material if their information leads to seizure, while government officials who do so will be given 1 per cent worth of the seizure. Steel and Mines secretary Ashok Dalwai said the notification is a way to co-opt the general public to detect the ills in the mining department. “People of the department may be conniving with those plundering the state’s mineral resources. The new scheme will provide an incentive to the people to point out theft of mineral resources,” said Dalwai.

(Source:http://www.indianexpress.com/news/orissa-mines-dept-declares-reward-for-whistleblowers/530480/#)

Geologists to address State’s ecological issues

Ranchi, October 19, 2009: Now the geologists of Jharkhand have decided to address the geological issues like depletion of underground water, underground fire and environmental degradation for sustainable development of State. The geologists vehemently believed that the Society of Geo Scientists, Jharkhand (SGSJ) can address these problems, as the State lacks specific plans for development. Recently, the executive committee meeting of the SGSJ had held a meeting under chairman Sunil Nath to brainstorm geological issues of the State, at Harmu. Secretary of SGSJ Anal Sinha the population of Jharkhand has increased in last few years.  “The preservation of underground water is important keeping in view increase of population. The awareness programme will be organised to educate the common people about the rainwater harvesting,” he added. SGSJ in collaboration with CIL, Directorate General of Mines Safety and other organisations will conduct awareness-cum-workshop to combat mine fire in Jharkhand, in next six months. “The burning of coal is a sensitive issue. Appropriate measures must be taken to educate the people,” Sinha said. The massive industrialisation, urbanisation and deforestation due to mining activities have drastically changed the environment of Jharkhand.  “The geologists have decided to conduct awareness-cum-workshop in active mining areas, particularly West Singhbhum. We will seek help from the Centre, Forest and Environment Department and other related departments,” he added. The officials of Tata Steel, RK Upadhyay and Shailendra Sinha (geologist) were asked to strengthen the Society and encourage other geological activities in Jamshedpur. In the meeting, vice-president of SGSJ Uday Pratap Singh, joint secretaries HK Bhanjdeo and Sharad Sinha, Arun Kumar and TBN Singh and treasurer Sahendra Singh and other members were present in the meeting.  In ,future the SGSJ will address the critical issues that are current and of particular interest to the geosciences community. These may include both issues that are likely to give impact on the geosciences community and those for which the participation of geoscientists is important to an informed debate.

(Source:http://www.dailypioneer.com/209780/Geologists-to-address-State%E2%80%99s-ecological-issues.html)

Centre threatens to cancel coal block for Nalco

Bhubaneswar, October 19, 2009: The Centre has threatened to cancel a coal block allocated to Nalco for captive use, citing delay in the development of the mine. In the show-cause notice issued to the company on October 12 for delay in developing the Utkal-E coal block in the State, the Coal Ministry said, “The progress (in development of the block) is badly delayed and no serious effort has been made to develop the coal block since the allotment in 2004. The gestation period of 3-5 years to develop the explored block is also over. The Coal Ministry has also taken a serious view of the absence of company officials in the series of review meetings it convened to discuss the progress on the block. “No representative attended the (review) meetings, which is a serious lapse on the part of the company. The review meeting has viewed the absence of the company in successive review meeting seriously,” it added.

(Source:http://www.dailypioneer.com/209779/Centre-threatens-to-cancel-coal-block-for-Nalco.html)

Uranium deposits in Meghalaya could be double: AMD

Shillong, October 18, 2009: The actual Uranium deposits in Meghalaya could be double than what has been established in exploration done by Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMD), a top official said. “Out of the 1,800 sq km of extent of the Mahadek basin in Meghalaya, only 28 per cent of the area is exposed and the deposits so far established are concentrated only in this area. Exploration work on the remaining stretch is being done currently with a relatively new technology called Hallibourne Geo-Physical Survey,” AMD additional director PS Parihar said here recently. He said so far it has been established that the 28 per cent of the Mahadek Basin accounts for 16,000 tonnes of Uranium, which is 16 per cent of the country’s Uranium resources. “Initial estimates say the entire basin could have over 30,000 tonnes of deposits ,” Parihar said on the sidelines of the Homi Bhabha birth centenary celebration at AMDs NE regional centre here. “There is no reason to discount the rest of the basin which is unexposed. To explore the concealed deposits, the AMD is planning multi-disciplinary investigation,” he said, adding that the rugged and inaccessible terrain with poor infrastructure and communication facilities is posing formidable challenges in the area. The new technically-advanced survey using electro- magnetic radiation, being done by the AMD, is exploring the sub-surface conductors of the entire Mahadek basin to detect mineralisation, after which drilling would be done. Parihar said AMD, during its six decades of exploration, has discovered Uranium resources to the tune of 1,24,000 tonne spread across the States of Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Meghalaya, Rajasthan and Karnataka. Currently the Directorate is carrying out active exploration works in Andhra Pradesh, North Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana and Karnataka, besides Meghalaya.

(Source:http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=oct1909/ne8)

Hold intense dialogue before mining: UN

Shillong, October 16, 2009: A representative of a United Nations body today said the Govt. of Inida should hold intense dialogue with the local people, get their consent and then take up the uranium mining project in Meghalaya. “Such projects need participation of the indigenous people. They should agree that they would like to have such a project on their land,” Chairperson of  the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Victoria Tauli Corpuz, told reporters here. The UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues  is an advisory body to the Economic and Social Council, with a mandate to discuss indigenous issues related to economic and social development,  culture, the environment, education, health and human rights. Asked about the protests by various organizations in Meghalaya against the mining project, Corpus said: “The Government should hold intense dialogue until they give their consent. “By merely saying that such projects would bring in development is not  enough. Development packages should not be used as enticement,” she added. It was the Government’s responsibility to ensure rehabilitation and ensure that the people  were not impacted. she said. She also said that local people should get equitable benefits from “whatever profit comes out from these operations”.

(Source:http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=oct1609/ne4)

Govt likely to face more protests Anti-uranium mining campaign

Shillong, October 16, 2009 : The MUA Government may be in a catch-22 situation over the uranium issue as several NGOs are planning a series of agitation programmes, besides fresh night road blockade announced by KSU in the four districts of Khasi-Jaintia Hills. KSU will enforce three-nights road blockade in East Khasi Hills, West Khasi Hills, Jaintia Hills and Ri-Bhoi districts starting at 8 pm on October 20. Similarly, it would come into effect on the following days, ending at 5 am on October 23. KSU has been opposing the Cabinet decision on "pre-project" development programmes of UCIL, terming it a ploy to facilitate uranium mining. According to sources, a number of West Khasi Hills district-based NGOs under the banner of Synjuk ki Seng Bhalang West Khasi Hills (SSBWKH) will meet at Nongstoin on Monday to discuss the pros and cons of the MUA Cabinet decision that had allowed UCIL to start "pre-project" development programmes worth Rs 209 crore only in the uranium-rich areas of the district measuring about 422 square hectares. The NGOs feel that if the government and UCIL are really concerned with development of West Khasi Hills, the focus should be on developing infrastructure in other areas of the district, not just the proposed uranium mining areas. "NGOs from the district who do not want to take a risk by blindly welcoming the pre-project development programmes would thoroughly discuss the issue and adopt a consensus decision," an SSBWKH member said. West Khasi Hills Confederation of Associations for Development (WKHCAD), another umbrella organisation of NGOs from the district, recently warned the State Government not to implement the Rs 209 crore first-phase development programmes of UCIL only in the uranium-rich areas.  "If the government thinks that the first-phase Rs 209 crore programmes should not be linked to actual uranium mining, then why should the development activities be implemented only in 422 hectares?" WKHCAD chairman Mosklander Marngar asked. Mr Marngar said, "We will not accept the government's decision to allow UCIL to carry out development activities only in the uranium-rich areas at any cost. We will also not allow uranium mining until our demands are met which include sponsoring local students to pursue scientific studies on uranium mining."

(Source:http://www.theshillongtimes.com/shillong.html)

Night blockade against uranium mining in Meghalaya

Shillong, October 14, 2009: The influential Khasi Students Union (KSU) has announced a two-night road blockade in Meghalaya beginning Wednesday to protest a proposed uranium mining project in the state. The road blockade would affect vehicular movement, specially night passenger buses and goods laden trucks, on the national highways between Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura. The blockade will be on from 7 p.m. till 5 a.m. Wednesday, and then again for the same duration Thursday.  “The KSU at a meeting Tuesday decided to intensify its stir… to protest the Meghalaya government’s decision to lease out land to the Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL),” said KSU president Samuel B. Jyrwa. “The KSU believes the uranium project would harm the environment and health of people living adjoining areas,” Jyrwa said. The state government has tightened security across the Khasi and Jaintia Hills of southeastern Meghalaya. “We are concerned that the proposed road blockades may affect other northeastern states too,” Meghalaya principal secretary (home) Barkos Warjri told reporters here.  Police heads of the four districts — East Khasi Hills, West Khasi Hills, Jaintia Hills and Ri-Bhoi — have been asked to see that the traffic flow along the national and other highways are not disturbed due to the night blockade. Chief Minister D.D. Lapang told reporters: “The uranium reserves are a national property and no one can stop the government from using them.” “The government has waited for 20 long years to persuade the people to allow uranium mining at Domiasiat in West Khasi Hills district of southern Meghalaya.” The KSU and local parties have been spearheading the movement against the Meghalaya government’s decision to allow the Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) to carry out pre-project development programmes in 422 square hectares in the uranium-rich areas of West Khasi Hills. A senior Meghalaya government official said the union ministry of environment and forests had already allowed UCIL to start uranium mining for the annual production of 375,000 tonnes of uranium ore and processing of 1,500 tonnes of the mineral ore per day in West Khasi Hills district. The UCIL has proposed a Rs.1,046 crore open-cast uranium mining and processing plant at Domiasiat in the West Khasi Hills district. Meghalaya has an estimated 9.22 million tones of uranium ore deposits.

(Source:http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/business/night-blockade-against-uranium-mining-in-meghalaya_100260506.html#)

Vedanta condemns UK agency's findings

Bhubaneswar October 14, 2009: Vedanta Aluminium Ltd (VAL) has condemned the findings of UK National Contact Point, a British government agency which accused London-based Vedanta Resources, the parent company of VAL, of overlooking the interests of local communities in its Orissa projects. “Vedanta failed to put in place an adequate and timely consultation mechanism to fully engage the Dongria Kondh, an indigenous community who would be directly affected by the environmental, health and safety impact of its plans to construct a bauxite mine in the Niyamgiri Hills in Orissa”, had said the UK National Contact Point on the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) guidelines for multinational enterprises. VAL questioned the legal right of UK-based agency to comment on the possible impact of a project being developed in India and considered its interference to be against the nation's sovereignty. “We condemn the findings of the UK-based agency. Our bauxite mining project at Niyamgiri hills has been cleared by the Supreme Court, the highest judicial authority in India. It is inappropriate for the agency of any other country to comment on a project being developed in India”, Mukesh Kumar, chief operating officer of VAL's Lanjigarh project told Business Standard. The conclusions on Vedanta's bauxite mining project have been based on the allegations of Survival International, an international NGO (non-governmental organization) known for its anti-industry standpoint, said Kumar. “The report on our bauxite mining project and its potential impact on the local communities was prepared based on a complaint submitted by Survival International, which has an office in Bhubaneswar. They wished to involve us in the process of investigation but we denied it, as our project has to be developed in India and it has to meet the Indian legislation. A foreign agency has nothing to do with our project,” he added. On allegations by Survival International that Vedanta’s proposed bauxite mine project was to be carried out on the Dongria Kondh’s sacred mountain, Kumar said, “ there is only one sacred mountain on the Niyamgiri hill range and our bauxite mining operations would not touch this sacred spot”.

(Source:http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/vedanta-condemns-uk-agency%5Cs-findings/373213/)

Petitioners didn't have say on Kapadia presence

New Delhi, October 13, 2009:  Supreme Court judge S H Kapadia’s clarification on why he had decided a case involving a company in which he had shares has fuelled a conflict of interest controversy. This is because his remarks last week in the court raised fresh questions about the manner in which he had substituted one Vedanta group company with another to take over a bauxite mining and aluminium refinery project in Orissa. Responding to a conflict-of-interest allegation made against him by advocate Prashant Bhushan for the orders he had passed in the Vedanta case in 2007 and 2008, Kapadia cited two reasons for handing over the project to Sterlite Industries despite having shares in it. One, that he had disclosed his interest in the court right at the outset, and two, that none of the parties concerned had objected to his presence on the special forest bench headed by Chief Justice of India. Justice Kapadia’s explanation however glossed over the fact that he did not have the consent of any of the three parties who had initiated the challenge to the Vedanta project. The consent of the three original petitioners, Biswajit Mohanty, Prafulla Samantra and Academy of Mountain Environics, was surely more important than that of the other parties who were anyway in favour of the project. “Though we were the only aggrieved parties, none of us three petitioners got an opportunity to raise objections to Justice Kapadia’s continuance on the bench,” Samantra told TOI. This anomaly arose because, in keeping with the procedure followed by the forest bench, the petitioners were not made parties to the Supreme Court proceedings. They had been parties only to the proceedings before the Central Empowered Committee (CEC), which subsequently recommended to the SC that the Centre’s approval to the refinery project be revoked. Thus, the only parties that could be said to have given their consent to Justice Kapadia’s continuance on the bench were Vedanta Alumina Ltd (project proponent), Orissa Mining Corporation (the mining lease holder), the Orissa government (which is the promoter of the project), the Centre’s environment ministry (which granted the approval to the refinery), and the CEC (which is a creature of the court and was represented by amicus curiae). Equally significant, the petitioners also contested the claim that Justice Kapadia had made the disclosure of his interest right at the outset. For, in a case that had been dragging on since May 3, 2005, the judge made the disclosure of his shares in Sterlite only on October 26, 2007 when he was exploring the possibility of transferring the project to that listed company in preference to the unlisted Vedanta Aluminium. That also happened to be the last hearing of the case before Justice Kapadia delivered the first of his two verdicts in the Vedanta case on behalf of the forest bench on November 23, 2007. Given the fact that the disclosure was made towards the end of the proceedings and given the denial of opportunity to the petitioners to raise objections, Justice Kapadia seems to have complied with the conflict-of-interest safeguard more in letter than in spirit. Clause 11 of the Restatement of Judicial Values adopted by the SC judges in 1997 says: “A judge shall not hear and decide a matter in which a company in which he holds shares is concerned unless he has disclosed his interest and no objection to his hearing and deciding the matter is raised.” Another major reason the conflict of interest controversy has not died down is the discovery of other Sterlite cases decided by Justice Kapadia. For instance, on March 19, 2007, a bench headed by Justice Kapadia upheld an appeal filed by Sterlite against Chennai’s commissioner of customs.

(Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Petitioners-didnt-have-say-on-Kapadia-presence-/articleshow/5117889.cms)

Court imposes curbs on sale of river sand

Kochi, October 13, 2009:: A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Monday ordered that sand collected from “kadavus” (river beds) in the district should be distributed only through ‘Kalavaras’, the fair price outlets for sand and other construction material. The Bench comprising Chief Justice S.R. Bannurmath and Justice Kurian Joseph also directed that no private trade of sand be allowed. The judges also directed the State government to take steps to open more Kalavaras in the district.  The court also permitted the Ernakulam District Legal Expert Committee to monitor sand-mining in the upstream of the Periyar at the Sree Sankara Bridge, Kalady, for six months. The quantity to be mined should be half of what had been collected from there the previous year. The court passed the directives on the basis of the report submitted by the Centre for Earth Science Studies (CESS).The court had directed the CESS to submit a report when a writ petition filed by Prakrithi Samrakshana Samithi, Aluva, came up for hearing. The CESS recommended that immediate steps should be taken to assess the sand-mining in the Periyar river in the district through a sand audit by a competent authority. The CESS said that no sand mining should be allowed in the river stretch downstream of the Kalady bridge without conducting the sand audit.  As the upstream was comparatively less degraded than that of the downstream, sand-mining from the kadavus in this stretch fixed previously by the District Level Expert Committee could be permitted for six months, limiting the quantity of sand to half the amount allotted last year.  The CESS also said that the quantity of sand extracted during this period should be closely monitored. The authorities concerned should ensure that there was no unauthorised mining, it said.

(Source:http://www.hindu.com/2009/10/13/stories/2009101358540300.htm)

BJP Alleges Corruption in State's Mining Affairs

Panaji, October 12, 2009: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has alleged large scale corruption in Goa's mining department, especially for its inability to impose the much-touted 'green cess' on mining ore rejects. "The government is supposed to impose the green cess on mining rejects. But the department has not even defined what are mining rejects in the first place. This smacks of corruption and inefficiency," leader of opposition Manohar Parrikar told reporters at the BJP's state headquarters.  The 'green cess', a trumped up revenue-boosting tool that was aimed at netting Rs.375 crore from the state's powerful multi-million dollar mining industry, was announced by Chief Minister Digambar Kamat during the budget session in August.  The announcement came at a time when the opposition had the state government on the mat over gross violations in the mining industry and citing numerous instances of illegal mining in the state, which according to the BJP were run by several cabinet ministers. Parrikar said that as far as most mining related discrepancies were concerned, the buck finally stopped with the chief minister, who is also the state mining minister.  "Yes the buck stops with the chief minister. I have given him until December to clear up the mess in the mining department, failing which we will hold him personally responsible for the failure and the corruption in the mining department," Parrikar said.  Mining department officials also acknowledged their inability to impose 'green cess', which they say needS more vetting.  "We have sent the green cess proposal to the law department for scrutiny. We do not want any loopholes there for the mining industry to exploit," a senior mining department functionary told IANS. Goa's 100-odd open cast mines extract and export nearly 33 million tonnes of ore each year and are in the news often for environmental infringements.

(Source:http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=66817&n_tit=BJP+Alleges+Corruption+in+State's+Mining+Affairs+)

Vedanta may leave Orissa

Bhubaneswar, October 11, 2009: Vedanta is sourcing bauxite from Gujarat and its BALCO project in Chhattisgarh , so it is paying hefty sums on the transportation. Procedural delays, bureaucratic hassles and lack of political will may result in the possibility of yet another foreign direct investment (FDI) project shying away from Orissa. The London-based Vedanta Alumina Limited (VAL), which has already set up its 4,500-crore refinery project at Lanjigarh in the Kalahandi district much ahead of the schedule, now faces threat to its survival as it has not yet been allowed for the mining of bauxite at Niyamgiri hills near the project site despite complying to the directions given by the Supreme Court. VAL is sourcing bauxite ­ the main raw material for the production of alumina from Gujarat and its BALCO project which is in Chhattisgarh, so it is paying hefty sums on the transportation. According to company officials, bauxite transportation charges from such distant places accounts for half of the production cost. The VAL to feed it refinery project had entered into a JV with the state-owned Orissa Mining Corporation -- for exploitation of bauxite from Niyamgiri hills. However, a section of locals and some environmentalists objected to it on the ground that it would jeopardise the local eco-system.

(Source:http://epaper.asianage.com/ASIAN/AAGE/2009/10/12/ArticleHtmls/12_10_2009_017_006.shtml?Mode=1)

CIL to review fuel deals with cement firms

Saturday, 10 Oct 2009:  It is reported that cement companies which have been struggling to secure coal linkages may be set for some relief. As per report Coal India will remove some clauses that are hindering the signing of fuel supply agreements with cement companies. Mr AK Sarkar director marketing of CIL said that most cement companies that have been given letters of assurance are yet to sign the fuel sale agreement because there are some clauses that they are yet to fulfill.  He added that "The companies say the milestones are stiff and unnecessary. Their demand is under consideration and we will be taking decision soon, which will pave the way for the signing of the fuel supply agreements." Cement companies consume 3% of the coal produced in the domestic market. They need to enter into a deal with CIL, which will mine the blocks allotted to the cement firms. The new coal distribution policy, which came into effect from October 2007, says that companies having an annual requirement of more than 4,200 tonnes will need to enter into fuel supply agreements with CIL or its subsidiaries. Initially, a letter of assurance is issued, which provides for assured supply of coal to developers if they meet stipulated milestones. Once the milestones are met, holders of the letter are entitled to enter into a fuel sale agreements with CIL for a long term supply of coal. Cement companies say getting environment clearance and the coal mafia hinder their ability to ensure smooth coal supply for their plants. An official with a cement company said that "The biggest issue is getting environmental clearances, which takes ages. Officials have to run from pillar to post in the ministry's office to get things done. In countries like Indonesia, South Africa and Australia, the quality of coal available is better and clearances come sooner.” Mr Vinod Juneja MD of Binani Cement said that "The environmental clauses and the tussle between central and state government where the mine is allotted also delays the mining process.”

(Source:http://steelguru.com/news/index/2009/10/10/MTE1NTQw/CIL_to_review_fuel_deals_with_cement_firms.html)

Supreme Court nod for limited mining in Haryana

New Delhi, October 9, 2009:  The Supreme Court, which has imposed a total ban on mining activities in the Aravali range of Haryana, on Thursday accepted the Haryana Government’s willingness to allow mining in an area of about 600 hectares for the purpose of mining construction materials and asked the State to submit a plan for approval in this regard. A three-judge Forest Bench of the Court comprising Chief Justice K. G. Balakrishnan, Justice S. H. Kapadia and Justice Aftab Alam in its order directed the State to strictly adhere to the decision taken at the meeting of the Central Empowered Committee and guidelines, including transparent procedure for auction of mines, establishment of Aravali Rehabilitation Fund, establishment of Monitoring Committee and deposit an amount equal to 10 per cent of the auction in the said Rehabilitation Fund and an additional 10 per cent of the auction money to be kept by the successful bidder in a joint account with the State Mines Department. The said mining of minor minerals Badarpur sand and stones, commonly used as construction material in the National Capital Region (NCR), could be allowed in the specified area of Faridabad district and Palwal if the mandatory guidelines laid down by it in previous judgments and mentioned in the CEC report were followed, the Court said. The Bench said the Government would take immediate steps for preparation and implementation of the Reclamation and Rehabilitation Plan for the area affected because of mining activity taken place in violation of the rules. The actual mining operations would start only after the implementation of these steps and also the implementation of the rehabilitation plan begun on the ground, for which six months’ time had been granted.

(Source:http://www.hindu.com/2009/10/09/stories/2009100957710100.htm)

SC nod to mining on 600 hectares of Aravalis

New Delhi, October 9, 2009: Once bitten twice shy, the Supreme Court on Thursday permitted mining of minor minerals on a patch of 600 hactares in the eco-sensitive Aravalis in Faridabad and Palwal but with a strong rider that it could begin only after the Haryana government put in place a comprehensive rehabilitation and eco-restoration scheme. The state told the Bench that it would formulate a mining auction scheme in three months and a comprehensive eco-restoration scheme in six months. Angry over blatant violation of its directions for afforestation and eco-restoration that resulted in devastation of the Aravalis, Forest Bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices S H Kapadia and Aftab Alam was in no mood to lower the guard while allowing the state to finalise mine lease auction scheme for minor minerals on 600 hectares within three months.  It directed the state government that no mining operation could commence unless the state framed guidelines on rehabilitation and reclamation of the abandoned mine pits in Aravalis, which was the reason for the SC to completely ban all mining activity on May 8 this year. Apart from the guidelines to be put in place, each mine lease holder after the auction will have to submit a plan for mining and this plan should have environmental impact assessment clearance from the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF), the Bench said after hearing amicus curiae Ranjit Kumar and A D N Rao.  Rejecting the stand of mine lease holders, presented through senior advocate Soli Sorabjee, seeking some concession to those who had not violated environmental guidelines, the Bench allowed the state government to revoke all licences for major mineral mining in Faridabad and Gurgaon. On behalf of the state, solicitor general Gopal Subramaniam informed the Bench that the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government had already taken a decision to ban mining of major minerals for 10 years.  Refusing to consider individual cases, the Bench said, "There has been large-scale devastation of Aravalis. We have to take drastic measures. All the mine lease holders have violated the law and rules. Look at the statellite maps telling the story of devastation."   It said the permission to resume mining activity in 1,500 hectares in Gurgaon and Mewat areas would be considered only after examining the rehabilitation scheme for areas where mining of minor minerals was taking place.  It said permission to resume mining of minor minerals was being given out of necessity and not for boundless exploitation and devastation of the ecology for the benefit of individual mine lease owners. What moved the court was the shortage of `badarpur', mined as a minor mineral and widely used as a construction material in and around Delhi. It said, "We will how mine lease owners behave, whether they follow the eco-restoration guidelines or not. We will revisit the issue after three months."

(Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/SC-nod-to-mining-on-600-hectares-of-Aravalis/articleshow/5103037.cms)

CIL awaits nod to raise coal from abandoned mines

Kolkata, October 8, 2009:  In order to operationalise its plans to raise coal from abandoned mines through joint ventures with overseas companies, the public sector Coal India Ltd (CIL) has sought from its parent ministry, a special dispensation under the New Coal Distribution Policy (NCDP), for allowing the sale of coal from these mines. Companies such as ArcelorMittal and Rio Tinto are keen to partner CIL’s efforts to reopen 18 mines, some closed since the days of nationalisation of the Indian coal industry. “This would give some pure mining companies their first opportunity to mine in India,” CIL Chairman P. S. Bhattacharyya said at a press conference held here to announce CIL’s highest-ever increase in first half year production. He said the ten bidders, who would compete for the mines on offer, would bring technology, equipment, and funds on an equal basis with CIL, to restart operations. These mines were closed on grounds of safety or due to unviable operations. The dispensation is necessary, as most of the companies would be required to sell the coal to end-users for which the NCDP lays down a procedure (including signing letters of assurance). Referring to efforts to strike ‘alliances’ with mining companies in the U.S., South Africa, Australia and Indonesia for commencing mining ventures there, Mr. Bhattacharyya said that of the 52 expressions of interest received by CIL, 45 were ‘good offers’. The companies will start making their presentation by December 2009. The CIL board is likely to finalise a format for this at its meeting on October 15. “This would be an effort at international outsourcing. Our effort will be to reduce coal imports (which stood at 57 million tonnes in 2008-09) while improving on the price of the coal that we bring in from these strategic alliances,” he said. Mr. Bhattacharyya said that CIL had recorded its highest-ever first-half year increase in 2009-10, with an output of 184.44 million tonnes which was 9.9 per cent higher than the first half of 2008-09. However, the profit before tax was 20 per cent lower at Rs. 3,600 crore, mainly due to the impact of wage revision which has not been neutralised by any increase in price as yet.

(Source:http://www.hindu.com/2009/10/08/stories/2009100857101500.htm)

Meghalaya Governor deplores anti-uranium groups

Shillong, October 8, 2009: Deploring anti-uranium mining groups in the State, Meghalaya Governor RS Mooshahary today said there were sections opposing the mining project due to misunderstanding and spreading misinformation on the issue. “There are some people who are opposing the uranium mining project due to misunderstanding. Another section is opposing with an intention of spreading misinformation,” he said. Allaying fears of health and environmental hazards, he said: “Human health and security is the top priority of the decision makers. How can the Government give its nod to a project which is detrimental to the State?” “We always suspect that every act of the Government is anti-people. Meghalaya is not a colony of New Delhi, but a constituent of a federal state. The people should come out of the old mind set,” Mooshahary said, adding the UCIL and the Government of India were not mercenaries with commercial intention, but they are seeking to mine uranium for developmental purpose. He said: “The revenue generated by Meghalaya is 15 per cent of the total amount spent annually. The remaining amount, excluding the projects of direct funding, comes from the Centre. How can anyone say the Centre is not concerned about the people of the state.” “If uranium mining is hazardous, why developed countries are operating such mines,” Mooshahary said, urging people to consult scientists for their apprehensions on health hazards. He said, “I am talking to you as a tribal. I know the cheer, fear and tear of tribals. It is time for us to compete and to change.” Maintaining that there would be no displacement during execution of the project and once the mining is complete the land would be returned to the owners, Mooshahary said people should instead oppose the rampant rat hole coal mining in the state which is more hazardous. He ridiculed some groups who alleged that the uranium would be used for making atom bombs. “The apprehensions are far from reality. India is committed to peaceful use of nuclear power,” he said. Atomic Minerals Division spokesman SK Malhotra said besides electricity generation, the radiation sources of the radio isotopes of uranium would be used in various applications in sectors like health, agriculture, research and development, water resource management and environment conservations. “Currently electricity generation programme is the bigger priority. If we can generate 40,000 MW power from uranium now, only then we can meet the demand in 2050. Else the gap between demand and capacity after 50 years would be 400,000 MW,” Malhotra said.

(Source:http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=oct0909/ne)

Former BJD MLA in the forefront of anti-Vedanta agitation

Berhampur, October 8, 2009: While the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) is promoting the Vedanta Alumina Limited (VAL), a former BJD MLA of Rayagada district Sarangadhar Kadraka has decided to be in the forefront of the agitation against the mining of VAL in the Niyamgiri hills in south Orissa. Mr Kadraka has represented the Bisamkatak Assembly constituency twice. He was BJD MLA from the constituency from 2004 to 2009. He had also won from the same constituency in 1990 on Janata Dal ticket. In the last Assembly election he had decided to contest from Bisamkatak Assembly seat as an independent as he was denied BJD ticket. The BJD leaders say Mr Kadraka was suspended from the party for it. But Mr Kadraka claims he is still in the BJD. He says the ‘State headquarter’ of the BJD recently entrusted to him the responsibility of observing membership drive of the party in Jeypore and Koraput areas. “I do not know whether I was suspended from the party when I contested as an independent,” he said. A key man in the anti-Vedanta rally at Muniguda of Rayagada district, the tribal leader said he had opposed the mining project of the VAL in Niyamgiri hills way back in 2005. But now he has decided to express his opposition openly. “As I had never expressed my support to VAL in the past, so people are accepting me when I am opposing it,” he said.  When asked about his loyalty to the BJD, Mr Kadraka said as a tribal he was more loyal to the Niyamgiri hill range. “No leader or party can dissuade me from being a major catalyst in the protest against the proposed mining by VAL in the Niyamgiri hills. How can I get detached from my own people and their problems for petty politics,” Mr Kadraka said.  Mr Kadraka has support base in Bisamkatak, Muniguda, Kalyansinghpur and Kolnara blocks of Rayagada district which would be affected by the proposed bauxite mining by the VAL. According to him he has now started moving around the areas to be affected by the proposed mining to create public awareness and mass uprising against the project. “I am trying to include people from all sections in this agitation,” he said.

(Source:http://www.hindu.com/2009/10/08/stories/2009100852900300.htm)

Govt favouring mining scam accused: BJP

Bhubaneswar, October 8, 2009 : The Bharatiya Janata Party today accused the State Government of trying to bail out the prime accused in the multi-crore mining scam. While the State Vigilance arrested Shakti Ranjan Das for illegally mining from Ram Bahadur Thakur (RBT) mines on the strength of power of attorney purported to be executed in his favour by one of the directors in RBT Limited, BM Sharma, national BJP secretary Dharmendra Pradhan wondered as to how Sharma is still out of the purview of the investigation. Pradhan questioned the need for a departmental inquiry when the anti-corruption wing of the Government is probing the scam. On August 4, Steel and Mines Secretary AK Dalwai served notice to Manmohan Sharma and Chaturbhuja Sharma, both directors of RBT Limited, for personal appearance on October 7. Pradhan claimed that Chaturbhuja Sharma is no more alive while the whereabouts of Manmohan Sharma is not known. The former member of the Lok Sabha alleged that the Government is trying to vitiate the vigilance inquiry by conducting a parallel administrative probe and summoning people whose existence is doubtful. Alleging that the role of the Steel and Mines Secretary is not above suspicion, the BJP leader demanded that he should be immediately relieved from the post.

(Source:http://www.expressbuzz.com/)

Sand mafia strikes again

Kochi, October 8, 2009: The Sand mafia has resurfaced in the Cheranelloor area with more force, to launch an offensive against those people who stand against their illegal mining activities. The residents of Cheranelloor and Kothad panchayats said that the police were acting in connivance with the sand mafia. Even after repeated petitions by the panchayat authorities the police are turning a blind eye to illegal sand mining from the Periyar, the residents said. Kothad panchayat vice-president M S Prasad said that there had been a lot of illegal sand mining activity in the area in the last few months. “The mining mainly takes place near the Varapuzha bridge. The government has completely banned sand mining in the area but the mafia operates with the support of certain political leaders and police officials,” Prasad said. He said that workers were brought from neighbouring states and used them as goons if and when required. Residents said that a minimum of 15 to 20 loads were illegally mined each day from various places in the panchayat. The mined sand is brought to a collection centre from where it is transported by lorry to designated places. “The members of the mafia are very smart as they shift the collection centres every day. Though we alerted the authorities concerned no action has been taken so far. This unregulated mining of sand from the river bed near the bridges will affect the stability of the pillars,” said a resident of the area. Prasad said that the mafia threatened him when he tried to launch a massive campaign against illegal sand mining by bringing together the residents of the area. “There are big buyers for sand. Each load is sold for a price ranging between Rs 6000 and Rs 7000,” he said. A resident said that the police could easily check illegal transportation of sand as there was only one road, Kutty Sahib Road, connecting the area with the main road. “Earlier the authorities used to post police personnel here to check the movement of tipper lorries. But now, even after our repeated pleas, the police are not ready to take any action,” he added. The Cheranelloor police said that they were doing their best to check illegal sand mining in the area. “We are not getting the right information from the people. Nobody is ready to come forward and share with us concrete details about the activities of the sand mafia,” said sub-inspector G Manoj.

(Source:http://www.expressbuzz.com/)

Large-scale sand mining from Palar

Chennai, October 8, 2009:  AIADMK general secretary Jayalalithaa on Wednesday criticised the government for “large-scale mining and smuggling of sand from the Palar river in Vellore district.” In a statement here, Ms. Jayalalithaa said that with a view to protecting waterways in the State, the government headed by her had brought all sand quarries under the Public Works Department.  Owing to heavy quarrying of sand, there was acute water shortage in Vellore town. Demanding steps to protect waterways and check sand smuggling, AIADMK workers led by party’s political advisor C. Ponniyan would stage a demonstration at Ranipet on Thursday.

(Source:http://www.hindu.com/2009/10/08/stories/2009100858950500.htm0

Govt to split Chiria mines, SAIL gets half

New Delhi,  October 7, 2009: ArcelorMittal’s hopes for entire allocation dashed. Putting an end to the fierce scramble for India's iron ore resources, the government has decided to split the Chiria iron ore mines in Jharkhand into two and give at least half the reserves to SAIL for its expansion plans. The other half will be kept for development by the private sector later, said informed sources. Chiria's reserves are estimated at 2 billion tonnes and could go up to as much as 3 billion tonnes. This decision was taken yesterday at a meeting attended by the Jharkhand Chief Secretary A K Basu, senior steel ministry officials, Secretary Mines Santha Sheela Nair, and SAIL Chairman S K Roongta. Asked about the decision, Steel Secretary P K Rastogi said, “The meeting was called to sort out issues related to Chiria mines. There are positive developments from the meeting."   The decision may come as a blow to the plans of world’s largest steel producer Arcelor Mittal, which had virtually threatened to withdraw from the state if it was not given resources from Chiria. Leveraging President's Rule in Jharkhand currently, the government has opted to settle the mining lease in favour of the public sector steel behemoth. Government sources say the state government took the decision in favour of SAIL because the world’s largest producer had not made much headway in the project. With this decision, the competition among the private companies such as Arcelor Mittal and Jindals will turn more intense. Mittal had been seeking 600 million tonnes reserves for his Jharkhand plans. Also, the iron ore mining and steel production landscape in India is likely to change qualitatively. A planned capacity expansion by the Tatas in Chhattisgarh and Orissa has already run into land acquisition problems. The Jindal group which was to set up plants in Orissa and West Bengal is also learnt to be going slow on the project. So the government says the clash of the domestic steel titans might just be beginning now. However,  SAIL may be unhappy from this development since the company had been seeking control of 2 billion tonnes of reserve. It already has steel-making capacity in Bokaro in Jharkhand. SAIL had earlier expressed its intention to set up a new unit in Jharkhand provided it gets control of Chiria. SAIL has plans to expand capacity to 23 million tonnes from the current 14 million tonnes by 2012. Control over Chiria is vital to current and future expansion plans. In the previous United Progressive Alliance government, then Steel Minister Ramvilas Paswan had sought allocating the explored 2 billion tonne reserves to SAIL and leaving the unexplored reserves for private players. However, the proposal did not materialise. The Mittal group will now have to weigh its options in India. In Orissa a proposed 12-million tonne steel plant is mired in land acquisition disputes. The 12 million tonne plant in Jharkhand was its big white hope. On Monday, Mittal told the Financial Times that it might relocate both plants elsewhere if land acquisition problems weren't resolved soon. This statement was widely interpreted to mean that the world's largest steelmaker would quit India although L N Mittal asserted that "ArcelorMittal has no plans to quit India. India is an important country for steel demand growth and is an important part of ArcelorMittal's long-term strategic plans.

(Source:http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/govt-to-split-chiria-mines-sail-gets-half/372468/)

Minerals worth 13 cr seized

Bhubneshwar, October 7, 2009: : The Mines Directorate seems to have woken up to the occasion after the Opposition brought the multicrore mining scam to the fore. Conducting a series of raids in the Cuttack and Jajpur Road circles, the State- level enforcement squad of the directorate seized minerals worth over Rs 13.32 crore from 28 storage depots in September and suspended 24 storage licences for violation of Orissa Mineral (Prevention of theft, smuggling and illegal mining, and Regulation of possession, storage, trading and transportation) Rules, 2007. The Cuttack circle of the Directorate of Mines has 227 storage licencees while the Jajpur Road circle has 117. After conducting raids on 28 depots, 18 in Jajpur Road circle and 10 in Cuttack circle, the squad seized over 63,000 tonnes of iron ore fines, 23,000 tonnes of chromite, nearly 16,000 tonnes of pyroxinite and 587 tonnes of coal. While the approximate cost of the iron ore fines is Rs 1.42 crore, the cost of chrome ore was estimated at about Rs 11 crore. Steel and Mines Secretary AK Dalwai today reviewed the performance of the State-level squad at a meeting here today.  Most of the storage agents whose licences have been suspended are reported to have stock from unknown sources. They failed to explain to the squad about the source of minerals they had under their possession. The directorate will serve showcause notice to the storage agents whose licences have been suspended. If the explanation of the suspended licence holders is not satisfactory, the directorate will terminate their licences, official sources said.  The State Government framed the OMPTS Rules in 2007 to check illegal mining, transportation, storage and trading. However, enforcement was not possible due to delay in the formation of a dedicated squad, the sources said.

(Source:http://www.expressbuzz.com/)

Environment secy pays fine in mining matter

Panjim, October, 6, 2009: Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forest, Government of India, Vijay Sharma, on Tuesday paid up the fine of Rs 10,000 imposed on him by the Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court. This is as per an order passed by the High Court dated September 14, 2009, in connection with non-filing of affidavits in the writ petitions filed by the Goa Foundation against two mining companies. When the matter was taken up on Tuesday, an application for modification and recall of the order dated September 14 was filed by the Inspector General of Forests praying that the portion of the order imposing cost of Rs 10,000 on the Secretary be recalled in view of the submissions made in the application. Four officers of the Ministry of Environment and Forests were present in court in connection with the matter, including Ansar Ahmed, Inspector General of Forests; Dr Nalini Bhat (Impact Assessment Division); Bharat Singh, Deputy Director and Mr. Ishwar Singh, Additional Director. Although a direction to the Secretary to file his affidavit was issued by the Court on January 29, 2009, the Chief Conservator of Forests had sought additional two months to study the matter. Hence the High Court decided to impose a fine of Rs 10,000 on the Secretary. The application stated that the facts in the writ petitions were not brought to the notice of the Secretary and the files were instead processed by two divisions, namely Impact Assessment Division and Forest Conservation Division, which, due to administrative exigencies and other procedures, had not filed the affidavit on time. When the matter came up for hearing in the morning, Carlos Ferreira, Standing Counsel for the ministry was immediately asked by the court whether the money had been deposited as per the orders of the Court and the affidavit filed. Adv Ferreira said that the affidavit was brought to the court but the money had not been deposited as the application for the modification of the order has been filed. However, on being repeatedly asked by the court about the payment, he sought a short adjournment of the matter which was granted. After the matter was taken up again an hour later, he informed the Court that a demand draft for Rs 10,000 drawn on State Bank of India had been made. He handed the same to the court during the hearing of the matter. Thereafter the Ministry’s application for modification of its earlier order was adjourned to after the vacation. In the meantime, the court has granted time to all parties to file affidavits if required and posted the hearing on the petitions (which deal with mining activities on leases that do not have forest clearance) to November 17, 2009.

(Source:http://oheraldo.in/pagedetails.asp?nid=28286&cid=26)

Goa warned against ‘imitating’ Delhi, Haryana on mining

Panjim, October 5, 2009: Goa has been warned not to go the way Delhi and Haryana has by undertaking rampant mining. Professor Subir Saha, ex-director of School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi, said that the rampant mining has been the cause of drop in water table in the two Northern states. Dr Saha was delivering a key-note address at function organized by Institute of Town Planners, India Goa Region Chapter in association with the Department of Town and Country Planning, Goa as part of the celebration of World Habitat Day ’09. “It is true that mining brings lot of foreign currency but we also have to see the adverse affect of that,” Prof Saha said. He said that for every tonne of ore, two tonne of soil has to be extracted and that causes a major environmental instability.“The small State of Goa contributes to the 30 per cent of country’s mining export, which is a big thing,” he said. “But at the same time we must understand that we are not degrading the environment,” Prof Saha said adding “Goa should not go the way Delhi and Haryana have.” “In the two Northern States the water table has gone below 60 to 70 metres,” he said. Prof Saha further speaking on the growth of Goa said that it has done exceptionally well in several fields like IT, education, health and tourism. “The only problem is that 85 per cent of Goa’s population resides in the coastal areas and only four talukas and 30 per cent of the population depends on tourism for livelihood,” he said adding “this shows of inequality in the rural and urban areas, which needs to be changed.” Dy Speaker of Goa Legislative Assembly Mauvin Godinho too cautioned the State against reckless mining in the presence of Chief Town Planner Morad Ahmad. “Can we allow mining activity to go ahead in such a speed?” he asked adding “we cannot deplete the mother earth in such a way.” “We have to strike a balance with the environment,” he stated. Further, he criticized the planning at the airport and the surrounding areas. “There is no proper sewage planning no proper traffic arrangement around the only airport of the State,” he said. “In a small state like Goa if there is no proper planning that means there is something wrong somewhere,” he said. Ravi Hazra, principal of Goa College of Architecture, was also present on the occasion. Later, Godinho and Prof Saha distributed prizes to the winners of quiz contest held on the occasion of World Environment Day. Chairman of ITPI, Goa A P Diniz earlier welcomed the gathering, while Senior Town Planner E R Godinho proposed the vote of thanks.

(Source:http://oheraldo.in/pagedetails.asp?nid=28231&cid=26)

Mining Dept recommends changing ‘Green Cess’ terminology

Panjim, October 5, 2009: Following protest from the industry over the State Government’s proposal to levy “green cess’’ on the mining industry, the Department of Mining has recommended that the government change the terminology of ‘green’ cess. Chief Minister Digambar Kamat, who also holds finance and mining portfolios, had proposed imposing the cess on the mining industry for the environmental damage caused by the dumping of mining rejects.  Presenting the budget in July, Kamat said the ‘green’ cess would help net nearly Rs 375 crore (Rs.3.75 billion) annually in the State Government’s Kitty. He had further said that the added cess would help even out the social and environmental toll caused by mining in the state. However, the mining department feels that they cannot tax the mining industry for rejects under the term ‘green cess’. “Today’s rejects can be tomorrow’s ore and in future if there is demand for rejects they may be charged second time,” Director of Mines Arvind Lolienkar told Herald. He continued, “we have moved the file to the law department and asked them to change the terminology and give us the exact terms to be used for taxing the industry.” “We do not want a problem tomorrow and hence asked for an advice from the Law department,” he said. When pointed out to the CM’s assurance in the assembly to assess the mining production and export, Lolienkar said ‘this will be completed by December 31 this year.” “We have started the process and should be completed by the end of this year,” he said. ROYALTY: Further, Lolienkar said that the Union mines ministry’s revision of royalty rates on iron ore production and dead rent with effect from August 13, 2009 is expected to increase the Goa government’s revenue by 103% as compared to the existing regime. “The lowest royalty paid ranged from Rs 8 per tonne to the highest of Rs 17 per tonne, depending on the grade of the ore,” Lolienkar said, adding that the valuation was based on grade of ore sold and not on quantity of sale at the site.  “The increase in royalty will see 100 per cent jump in Goa’s revenue from Rs 34 cr annually to Rs 360 cr,” he stated. He said this year, since the notification was issued late, the government will collect upto Rs 150 crore as royalty. There were mixed reactions in sections of the industry with some saying the revision was rather stiff, but hoping collection of other taxes would be dropped and that part of the revenue from the new royalty regime would be ploughed back in improving infrastructure in mining areas. Nearly 33 million tonnes of iron, manganese and bauxite ore are extracted and exported out of Goa from the more than 100 odd operational mining leases in the state.

(Source:http://oheraldo.in/pagedetails.asp?nid=28249&cid=26)

Temporary shed will not prevent dust pollution in Curchorem: SWR

Panjim, October 5, 2009: There seems to be no immediate solution to dust pollution caused primarily due to loading and unloading of mining ore at Curchorem Railway Yard (CRY). The South Western Railways (SWR) in its affidavit filed before the Bombay High Court at Goa has stated that construction of a temporary shed at CRY will not prevent dust pollution in the area. On the other hand construction of covered shed would need fresh investment of Rs 80 crore with no guarantee that such huge investment would stop dust pollution, says the affidavit.  The affidavit filed by Sukdeo Mahato, Senior Divisional Engineer of SWR however said that the Railways has already taken action to control the dust through sprinkler system. The survey conducted by M/S Padmaja Aerobiologicals (P) Ltd, had indicated that during the rainy season the pollution was within permissible limits, it said. Air pollution can be controlled by simulating the rain by means of sprinkler systems near the loading and unloading plants. But by effective sprinkling arrangement, the pollution can be controlled, he has opined. In a writ petition filed by Goa Foundation , John Pereira and others  the High Court on April 28 had directed SWR to complete construction and commissioning of a temporary shed at CRY January 31, 2009. Whereas in further hearing on this petition on March 26, it has directed the Ministry of Railways to conduct a survey of the Yard for determining the feasibility constructing covered shed and submit report to the court on June 22. The petitioners’ grievance is that residents of Curchorem are exposed to uncontrolled dust pollution due to loading and unloading of ore at CRY. Thereafter the high court had on June 22 expressed dissatisfaction with the results of the report filed by the Railway officials after carrying out a feasibility survey of the yard. The report filed pursuant to the order had stated that construction of a temporary shed to cover CRY was not feasible. Instead building high walls on either side of the yard would serve the purpose, suggested in the report. The court however was not satisfied with the report and in no uncertain  words expressed its displeasure towards non-compliance of court orders.

(Source:http://oheraldo.in/pagedetails.asp?nid=28242&cid=26)

Meghalaya plans aggressive awareness campaign on uranium mining

Shillong, October 5, 2009: Faced with vehement protests from various pressure groups, Meghalaya government on Monday said it has planned out an "aggressive campaign" to enlighten the people on the issue of uranium mining.  "The government has decided to go for an extensive campaign involving all stakeholders to enlighten the people on the issue of uranium mining. The campaign will be in the form of seminars, panel discussions, debates, workshops and visits to places where uranium is mined," Deputy Chief Minister Mukul Sangma told reporters here after a cabinet meeting.  Asked if the government was convinced that the apprehensions of health and environment hazards expressed by organisations were unfounded, Sangma said, "That's not the question. Even the government wants to know more on the issue." He, however, added that the negative impacts of mining can be addressed by advanced technology. Referring to statements made by Hill State Peoples Democratic Party (HSPDP) against uranium mining, Sangma said the people had rejected the party in the last assembly polls.

(Source:http://www.zeenews.com/news568507.html)

Govt may cancel coal block allotted to Binani Cement

New Delhi, October 5, 2009: The government has threatened to cancel a coal block allocated for captive use to Binani Cement saying the company seems to be a non-serious player. “Your company has not only violated the government orders but also seems to be not interested to develop the block as per the milestone chart and terms and conditions of the allocation... The progress is not satisfactory and your company seems to be a non-serious player,” the coal ministry said in a showcause notice issued to the company. Binani Cement said it has already sought time from the government for assessing the viability and feasibility of the block, as the decision to acquire the block rests on the report indicating the quality of coal. The coal ministry served notice on September 29 to the company and sought its reply within 15 days, seeking reasons for the delay in developing the mines allotted for captive use, failing which the process to de-allocate the block would start. The company has also failed to submit a bank guarantee amount of Rs 5.86 crore to the ministry in the stipulated time frame, it said. Also, it added that the company has not even applied for any mining related licence with the state government till now. Earlier, the government had issued notices to ArcelorMittal and MMTC, warning cancellation of blocks alloted to them for failing to develop the mines. “In spite of the passage of almost 12 months, no serious effort has been made by your company to develop the coal block as per the milestone chart appended to the allotment letter. Consequently, the development of the coal block has been inordinately delayed,” the letter added. Asking the company to reply within the stated timeframe, the ministry said, “...Failing which it will be presumed that your company (Binani Cement) has no explanation to furnish and action as appropriate will be taken against your company for de-allocation of Datima coal block.” When contacted, a Binani Cement spokesperson said, “We have sought time from the ministry as we are in the process of assessing the feasibility and viability of the coal block which is likely to be completed by December.” “Based on the findings of the geological experts deputed by us, we will take a final decision whether to acquire the block or not. If the block contains coal with high ash content, we may not go for acquiring it, as presently we have to import coal valued at about Rs 500 crore per annum from countries like Indonesia to meet the requirements of our plants, as ash content is very high in the Indian coal,” the spokesperson added.

(Source:http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/govt-may-cancel-coal-block-allotted-to-binani-cement/372240/)

Bandra girl joins campaign for a green planet

Mumbai, October 5, 2009: A Bandra girl was among 22 campaigners and scientists from Greenpeace International who rebelled against the loading of a large-scale coal consignment from the Norwegian mine Svea Nord onto a transport ship. The protest took place in Norway’s Svalbard archipelago 1400 km south of North Pole.  At 7 am the team started blocking the conveyer belt of the Svea mine. A day after the protest Mumbai girl Faye Lewis spoke to Newsline. “Coal burning is the greatest contributor to climate change. My fight here is not just to save the Arctic but also to save Mumbai which will be adversely affected by the impending sea level rise,” she said.  Transport ship MV Pascha with a capacity to load about 70,000 tonnes of coal was planning to bring the consignment to Europe from Svea Nord. The mine is operated by Norwegian state-owned company Store Norske. The mine produces more than 2 million tonnes of coal every year. Coal from here is exported to many coal-fired power plants in Germany, France, Denmark, Netherlands and Portugal.  Lewis, a product of Mumbai’s St Xavier’s College, has been working as a deckhand on board the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise which is on a three-month expedition to study the impact of climate change on the Arctic ecosystem. As part of their protest the team put up banners that read “Coal Climate Crime” and “Coal Powered Arctic Meltdown”. Calling for a complete ban on the polluting fuel power plant by 2050, the campaigners wore masks of US President Barack Obama, Angela Merkel and other world leaders.  Lewis said, “After being on the Arctic Sunrise and seeing what’s happening to the Arctic from very close quarters I simply couldn’t walk away without stopping the coal from being loaded.”  The protest was interrupted when the local police arrived at 10 am. A spokesperson from Greenpeace International said, “No one was arrested because it was a silent protest. After our 26-hour effort, the cargo ship has still not managed to load the coal. They are still parked at Svea Nord and that is a great achievement for us.”  In a similar campaign near Mumbai in July, Greenpeace lead about 2,000 people from 25 agricultural and fishing villages to gather at Poynad Village on Alibaug-Dharamtar Road and protest against a government proposed coal-fired thermal power plant. The Greenpeace activists said they were underlining their fight to secure a fair, ambitious and binding agreement during the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen this December.  Explaining their protest, Lindsay Keenan, Greenpeace Nordic climate campaigner said, “The Greenland ice sheet is melting faster than anyone expected. Sea-level rise will impact the homes of at least one in ten people on the planet this century. This coal-fired madness has to stop.”  Coal burning is considered one of the greatest threats to the world climate, accounting for over 40 per cent of all fossil fuel related CO2 emissions. CO2 pollution by coal is projected to increase 60 per cent by 2030, activists said, adding that they want the world leaders to consider an energy revolution to phase out coal-fired power plants by 2050.

(Source:http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/bandra-girl-joins-campaign-for-a-green-planet/525052/)

Lapang to discuss uranium mining project with PM

Shillong, October 4, 2009: Meghalaya Chief Minister D D Lapang will leave for Delhi on Tuesday to discuss the proposed uranium mining project with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Official sources today said Lapang would brief Singh on the status of the mining project ahead of the visit of an Uranium Corporation of India Limited team to the State. While the State Cabinet had leased out 422 hectares of land in the Uranium rich areas of West Khasi Hills district to UCIL for pre-project developmental works, there has been demands from various quarters, including the United Democratic Party, an ally of the Congress-led coalition government to expand the development activities to the entire district. Lapang, during his visit to the national capital, would also meet UCIL officials and try to persuade them to expand its development work across West Khasi Hills and some other areas of the State instead of only 422 hectares in Uranium-rich areas. The Uranium mining project has been hanging fire for over two decades in the wake of protests from organisations who apprehended health and environmental hazards. The State Government had last month leased out 422 hectares of land in the Uranium rich areas to UCIL, a decision which was met with protests from various organisations.

(Source: http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=oct0509/ne7)

KSU allies with NAAM to oppose uranium mining

Shillong, October 4, 2009:The Khasi Students Union (KSU) president, Samuel Jyrwa, along with a 15-member delegation of the Union reached New Delhi on Friday for their meeting with the National Alliance of Anti-nuclear Movement (NAAM). The assistant Education secretary of the Union, Lambor Starwell Marngar, while speaking to NNN on Friday evening from New Delhi, said that in the first meeting with the NAAM, the KSU submitted a memorandum detailing their demands and protests against the Centre’s nuclear policies, programmes and projects in West Khasi Hills district. Marngar said that the meeting between the KSU and the NAAM was “highly successful” and that the organisation accepted the KSU stand on uranium mining in Meghalaya and extended all support to the KSU in its struggle against the government move to mine uranium in the State. The KSU delegation also joined the NAAM in its protest rally from Raj Ghat to Jantar Mantar in New Delhi demanding that the Centre should immediately stop all uranium mining and Nuclear production activities in the country since these are hazardous to public health. Marngar informed that thousands of people from Delhi and other States participated in the protest rally. He also said that the KSU leaders will brief the general public about the meeting with the NAAM during a public meeting to be held at Motphran on October 6.

(Source:http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=oct0509/ne2)

Staff shortage hampers check on illegal mining

Shimla, October 4, 2009: Illegal and unscientific mining continues to mar the fragile environment and the scenic beauty of the hill state as the state mining department fails to perform its regulatory role effectively due to an acute shortage of technical staff, vehicles and other infrastructure. The ever-growing number of development projects like construction of new roads, bridges, tunnels and cement plants has increased the workload of the department manifold in the recent years. The department not only has to regulate mining activities across the state, but also carry out geological investigations for all these projects. Moreover, geological-stability studies have been made mandatory in respect of roads involving forest land. However, hamstrung by paucity of manpower and lack of mobility, the department is not in a position to carry out the task. The government had, following the intervention of the high court, framed a policy to regulate mining but it has not served much purpose in the absence of effective enforcement. Apart from mining atop the hills which generated a lot of debris and caused aesthetic degradation, illegal mining in the river beds is causing serious concern. Worse, instead of providing more staff, the government has not even cared to fill the existing posts. The gravity of the situation could be judged from the fact that more than 50 per cent of the sanctioned posts at the senior level are vacant. As many as six out of the total nine posts of geologists and five out of nine posts of assistant geologists are vacant. All the three posts of technical assistant are vacant and only five mining officers out of eight are in position. The sanctioned strength of manpower has remained unchanged over the past more than two decades during which revenue from mining has increased to Rs 75 crore. For effective functioning at the field-level, all vacant posts have to be filled and at least three more posts of assistant geologists, four of mining officers, 50 of mining inspectors and 40 of mining guards will have to be created. The department’s proposal to create 30 new posts of mining inspectors and assistant mining inspectors and 40 posts of mining guards has not been cleared. Further, the existing fleet of eight vehicles has to be more than doubled to effectively monitor the mining operations being carried out across the state at 260 stone crushers, over 500 slate quarries, riverbed mining and large-scale mining of limestone for cement plants. The revenue will increase to Rs 120 crore when all the seven cement plants being set up in the state become functional.

(Source:http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20091005/himachal.htm#4)

Hurried mining policy for Meghalaya

Shillong, October 4, 2009: The Meghalaya government has hurriedly — and quietly — prepared a draft mining policy, ostensibly to remove all bottlenecks for the Uranium Corporation of India Ltd. The Congress-led Meghalaya United Alliance (MUA) has allowed UCIL to carry out pre-development projects at the mining sites. This is believed to be the precursor to actual mining for uranium. Till date, Meghalaya did not have a mining policy and with UCIL offering Rs 209 crore for pre-development projects to facilitate uranium mining, the government has thought of formulating the draft mining policy. The Meghalaya government’s draft mining policy was released on Friday, seeking the opinion and suggestions from the people and NGOs to be incorporated in the final mining policy within two weeks. An official source informed today that the intention of the state government is to see that the minerals, including uranium and coal, are mined scientifically. At present, coal, which is mostly available in Jaintia Hills and West Khasi Hills, is mined unscientifically. The present system of mining of coal is known as rat-hole mining as the labourers go underground to extract coal with locally available equipment. According to the draft, Meghalaya Mining Policy 2009, a copy of which is available with The Telegraph, there are a series of measures initiated by the government to tap various minerals existing in the state. Meghalaya is a mineral rich state and according to the draft mining policy, there are large deposits of uranium, coal, limestone, silmanite, granite and other minor minerals in the state. The features of the draft mining policy include the efforts on the part of the Meghalaya government to institute a mining institute so that the youths of the state can be trained on the employment opportunities available when the projects related to minerals are undertaken. The draft mining policy points out that there is an urgent need to see that the environment is protected while initiating various mining activities. The draft mining policy also speaks about foreign direct investment and public-private partnership to effectively tap the rich mineral resources in the state.

(Source:http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091005/jsp/northeast/story_11573997.jsp)

Lohara villagers back proposed mines

Nagpur, October 1, 2009: In a twist to the Adani mines saga, some villagers of Lohara in Chandrapur district have come out in support of the proposed coal mines in the area, which have been vehemently opposed by NGOs and locals. Adani Power Ltd had been allocated 1,750 hectares forest land having coal reserves at Lohara near the Tadoba tiger project. The project is in jeopardy with strong opposition from many quarters.  Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, Lohara sarpanch Dayanand Bankuwale said that the villagers are all for development. "However, some people, especially the NGOs, from urban areas are opposing the project. In fact, local villagers have no objection to the project," he said. "The proposed coal mines are far away from the Tadoba tiger project and even from its present buffer zone," Bankuwale claimed.  The villagers also clarified that they would support only those candidates in the assembly elections who promise to help bring the mines to their village.  According to the sarpanch, Adani is committed to the rehabilitation of the project-hit villagers, besides suitable employment in the mines. The company would also take all necessary precautions to ensure conservation and protection of flora and fauna in the area, he said.  Manoj Khanke, the sarpanch of Borda gram panchayat, said that Adani company is also committed to undertaking all steps to protect wildlife at Tadoba reserve, which is far away from the mining site, by providing manpower and whatever financial assistance is required. "If the project comes up, unemployed youths of all nearby villages would get direct and indirect employment," he added.  The proposed coal mines are slated to cater to the 1,320 MW power plant by Adani at Tiroda in Gondia district of Vidarbha. Villagers at the press conference questioned why no one has objected to the many other mining projects operating near Tadoba forest and within the city of Chandrapur. "In fact, around five mines are functioning in Chandrapur city itself, and nobody raise those issues," they said. The villagers said that the issue will dominate their thoughts during the assembly polls to be held on October 13.   "Though we agree that environment is an important aspect, we believe that it should not be an obstacle to development," the villagers said. They also requested that outsiders should not interfere in the development of their villages.  Recently, an NGO named Swawlambi Bahuddeshiya Paryavaran Sanrakshak Seva Samiti of Mul town had organised village meetings at Lohara, Junona, Ghantachowk, Nimbala, Borda, Chekborda, Dudhala, Vaigaon, Mamla and Chorgaon. The NGO had later submitted a memorandum to the district collector of Chandrapur demanding clearance for the proposed mines.

(Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/city/nagpur/Lohara-villagers-back-proposed-mines/articleshow/5074199.cms)