Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa himself admitted that in the last two years, 1.05 crore tonnes of iron ore had been exported to foreign countries illegally.
In a reply extending for two hours on illegal mining in the state, the chief minister explained the issue thread by thread and submitted a lot of details to prove his point.
He said illegal export of iron ore was not a new thing. It had been happening from 2003 onwards using illegal permits, encroaching forest land and through other means. Iron ore was exported illegally not only from Karwar, Belekeri, and Mangalore ports, but also from neighbouring ports.
“From 2003 till now, lakhs of tonnes of iron ore had been exported illegally without any account from Chennai, Goa, Krishnapattanam, Kakinada, and Vizag ports. Actually, as per rule, only 16 tonnes of iron ore should be carried in a truck. But they are carrying 18, 20, 30 and even 40 tonnes per load. In this, our forest, environment, and port officials have also colluded with the mining mafia. It is big racket.
After the BJP government came to power, based on Lokayukta justice N Santosh Hegde’s report, we have taken several measures to control this illegal activity,” he said.
“Because of mining, we are losing everything. Its impact on environment is unimaginable. In India, 1.64 lakh hectares of forest area is under mining. Because of mining, our tribal people are losing their life. And, indirectly, mining activities are helping the Maoists and terrorists. According to an estimate, there are 15,000 mines in India of which only 8,700 are licensed,” he added.
“The only way to stop this illegal mining is by banning export of iron ore. I have already written a letter to the prime minister in this regard. I have also urged for holding a meeting of all the chief ministers of mineral-rich states to discuss and take a decision to ban such unbridled exports.
This matter needs to be discussed in Loka Sabha also. There is an urgent need to put in place a comprehensive policy to ban export of iron ore and to make it mandatory that iron ore and such precious minerals are utilised for value addition within the country itself,” he said.
“Mining not only spoils people’s life, it also depletes our water sources. And because of mining, pollution has increased. People are suffering from various diseases. It can be witnessed if any one goes to Bellary district. Mining is not environment-friendly.
The Centre for Science and Environment, in its recent survey, observed: ‘If we don’t take any measures to control the looting of our resources, they will exhausted within a few years. That’s why there is need to put an end to this illegal mining,’” he said.
Explaining the steps taken by the state government, he said Karnataka was first state to introduce value added policy. It had been very well received by the iron and steel companies.
Apart from that, the practice of issue of bulk permits, which were being misused by the miners, has been stopped.
Specific permits are being issued for each load and we have introduced bar coding and hologram-based trip sheets in order to improve the tracking of the consignments as well as to avoid permits being faked,” he said.
