A cabinet decision by Karnataka's BJP government to open up the state's forests, including the Bandipur tiger reserve, for mining has evoked a stern warning from environment and forests minister Jairam Ramesh.
In a letter to Karnataka chief minister B. S. Yeddyurappa, Ramesh has said dereserving any forest land can be done only with the prior permission of the ministry of environment and forests.
Ramesh said: "The ministry has not been consulted by the state. Though the state government might have given permission, the final authority for diversion of forest land for non- forestry (including mining) purposes is the Union ministry of environment and forests." The Karnataka cabinet decided to dereserve 13,960 sq km of forest land in the districts of Bellary, Shimoga and Mysore to allow mining there. This is said to have been done keeping in mind the requirements of the Laxmi Mittal headed Arcelor- Mittal group, whom Yeddyurappa is wooing to set up a steel plant in Karnataka.
The move will also benefit friends of Karnataka's powerful tourism and infrastructure minister G. Janardhan Reddy, who is known to be close to Lok Sabha opposition leader Sushma Swaraj.
Yeddyurappa and state home minister V. S. Acharya justified the decision as environment friendly. They said the area identified for mining would be right next to steel plants and would thus reduce the impact of transporting ore to the factory.
Acharya also said the move to de- reserve was taken in conjunction with the Centre.
Ramesh denied Acharya's claim. He said he had come to know about the decision through media reports and after several Karnataka MPs had registered their protest over the move.
"All decisions to be initiated by the companies following the decision of the state government must necessarily get prior approval from the Union ministry of environment and forests," his letter to Yeddyurappa stated.
Prior to this, Ramesh had written to Goa chief minister Digambar Kamat imposing a moratorium on all mining in the state, till a minerals policy was worked out by the Congress government there.
Kamat has been trying to control the mining mafia in Goa, which has allegedly destroyed about 90 km of Goa's 100- km beaches.
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