Karnataka has constituted a four-member ministerial committee to take decisions and plan legal measures on the Comprehensive Environmental Plan for Mining Impact Zone (CEPMIZ) that needs the Supreme Court’s approval.
The CEPMIZ is an ameliorative measure for the environmental damage caused by illegal mining in the Ballari, Chitradurga and Tumakuru districts.
The Cabinet sub-committee will be headed by Law Minister J C Madhuswamy with Social Welfare Minister B Sriramulu, Mines Minister C C Patil and Forest Minister Anand Singh as members.
The sub-committee will supervise and decide on legal steps to be taken with respect to the CEPMIZ prepared by the Karnataka Mining Environment Restoration Corporation (KMERC), a special purpose vehicle tasked with the clean-up and development of the three mining-affected districts.
In 2012, the Supreme Court ordered implementation of CEPMIZ in the three districts. But since then, the state government has not succeeded in convincing the top court with its proposed plan of action.
The government’s last CEPMIZ proposed an outlay of Rs 24,995 crore to be spent in three categories — a socio-economic and development plan at Rs 17,165 crore, road infrastructure at Rs 2,559 crore and railway infrastructure at Rs 5,271 crore.
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