Transportation of iron ore; SC seeks reports from K'taka, CEC

The Supreme Court today asked the Karnataka government and apex court-appointed CEC to file a detailed report on construction of conveyor belt system and railway lines for transportation of mined iron ore from three ecosensitive districts in the state.
The direction was passed by a bench headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi on an interim application filed by Federation of Indian Mining Industry, Southern Region.
The federation, also supported by Vedanta group which is one of the key iron ore miners, has been opposing the construction of conveyor belt systems and railway sub-lines by using funds collected from them on the ground that these activities will not ameliorate the alleged damage caused to the environment due to illegal mining.

"We deem fit for the present to call upon state of Karnataka and Central Empowered Committee (CEC) to submit a detailed proposal with regard to implementation of the scheme of construction of conveyor belt system in respect of existing leases and details of the project relating to the construction of railway sidings and railway sub-lines," the bench, also comprising Justices P C Pant and A M Khanwilkar, said.
The court said it would pass further orders after receiving the reports from the state government and the CEC.
Earlier, the top court, while disposing of a PIL filed by NGO Samaj Parivartana Samudaya, had passed a slew of directions including setting up a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to formulate a scheme for ameliorating the damage caused to the environment due to illegal mining in Bellary, Chitradurga and Tumkur districts of the state.

The judgement had provided means for collection of funds for the expenditure to be incurred by the SPV.

The federation of mining firms, including the Vedanta group, had challenged the direction asking them to continue paying 10 per cent of the sale proceeds of mining to the Monitoring Committee for eventual transfer to the SPV.
The apex court was informed that there was a surplus of about Rs 1,800 crore as on March 31, 2016 and it could be used for construction of conveyor belt system and railway lines and sidings.
The federation said the proposed railway line was a venture of the Indian Railway and "it is not understood how the same can be beneficial to the restoration of environment in the three districts devastated by large-scale illegal mining".