Mining in Sandur's forest: H D Kumaraswamy puts onus on state government

Bengaluru: Union Minister for Steel and Heavy Industries H D Kumaraswamy on Tuesday sought to stress that mining in the 992.31 acre (401.57 hectare) virgin forest of Ballari's Sandur was not his decision as the state government had approved the project long before he took over the ministry.

The minister was briefing the media after a review meeting of the Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited (KIOCL). "The Devadari mining (block) was allocated to the KIOCL by the state government. Before starting the operations, the KIOCL has pledged to take up afforestation and conserve biodiversity in 808 hectare at the cost of Rs 194 crore," he said.

The mining involves removing over 99,000 trees, of which 21,259 trees in 293 acres will be cleared in the first five years. To a question over the Forest Department's objection to the mining in the virgin forest area, Kumaraswamy noted that the state government has approved it. "If the Forest Department had opposed the project, why did the state government accept Rs 194 crore from the KIOCL," he asked.

He said all the approvals for mining were processed in 2023. After the state government approved the project, the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) gave its final approval.

Documents show that between October 2019 and January 2020, the Ballari Deputy Conservator of Forests, Chief Conservator of Forests and the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Head of Forest Force) stated that the project should not be recommended.

On October 9, 2020, the Karnataka government overruled the department's view and requested the MOEF to clear the project. The Union ministry gave in-principle approval (Stage 1) for the proposal to divert the forest land for mining. In August and October 2022, the state government sent additional documents required for final approval (Stage 2), which was accorded on December 16, 2022.

Kumaraswamy said the operationalisation of the mine would not only help KIOCL but also contribute to afforestation. He said the company started in 1976 was profitable and employed over 1600 people till 2005. After the mining activities came down, the number of employees came down to 595. They have managed to save the company despite several challenges.

"I want to clarify here and bring to the attention of the people in Sandur that I didn't approve the mining of the forest. They should know that the KIOCL is taking up afforestation in an 808 hectare area. This project is not just for iron ore extraction and making KIOCL a profitable company, but also to reforest the lands and conserve biodiversity for which money has been given," he said.