Machines back in action in Bellary

Heavy machines spluttered to life after a gap of 18 months in the mines of the district on Saturday.

Activities resumed in the mines belonging to B Kumar Goud Mining Company and Nadeem Minerals, after they undertook reclamation and rehabilitation measures as ordered by the apex court.

Extraction of iron ore had been banned by the Supreme Court, following allegations of illegal mining.

The mining firms had been categorised as ‘A,’ ‘A+,’ ‘B,’ ‘B-1’ and ‘C’ categories, by the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) set up by the Supreme Court, based on the extent of illegality by them.

The CEC had also recommended that steps should be taken to prevent the irregularities and to reclaim areas affected by mining, after conducting extensive surveys of areas ravaged by mining.

A team of the Council of Forestry Research Education had also conducted surveys and recommended that the Supreme Court could grant permission for mining only to those firms that are in the A category and have taken reclamation and rehabilitation measures. 
  
Srinivas, manager of the B Kumar Goud Mining Company, said their 220 employees had not been removed from their jobs, even after the cessation of mining by the firm. Residents from nearby villages were now making enquiries for jobs, he said.

However, permission is yet to be given to transport the mined ore and even the process to distribute permits has not yet been started. Permission would be given for selling ore only through the e-auction process, deputy commissioner A A Biswas said.

While B Kumar Goud Mining Company in the Swamimalai mines in Sandur taluk has been granted permission by the apex court to mine 6.4 lakh tonnes of iron ore a year, Nadeem Minerals can extract 4.5 lakh tonnes.

The Kumar Goud firm earlier used to mine 20 lakh tonnes a year. The Tiffin Barryates, another ‘A’ category company in Bellary taluk has also been given permission to extract ore and it is expected to begin operations soon.

With mining activities likely to resume in nine more A category mines soon, those looking for jobs see a glimmer of hope. Firms in other categories will get the sanction to extract ore after they complete the reclamation and rehabilitation measures.

Category breakup

There are a total of 21 mining companies in category A in the districts of Bellary, Chitradurga and Tumkur. The number of firms in the ‘A+’, ‘B’ and ‘B1’ categories are 24, 65 and seven, respectively.

The Supreme Court had stated that 16 ‘A’ category companies (12 in Bellary, three in Chitradurga and one in Tumkur) could be allowed to resume mining in the initial stages, if they adhered to reclamation and rehabilitation measures.

The licences of companies in ‘C’ category have been recommended for cancellation and allotment to others.