Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa today said that his Government is committed to end illegal mining in the State and ordered a probe by Lokayukta to investigate such cases.
Presenting a progress report on the completion of 100 days of his government in office, he said after he took over, no new mining licenses were granted.
He said orders have been issued for Lokayukta to conduct a comprehensive inquiry into the illegal mining till today.
Without referring to China, where most of the iron ore from Karnataka is being exported, he said foreign countries are storing iron ores imported from Karnataka for “future generations”.
While there would not be any problem for authorised mining, Government would not allow illegal mining at any cost. The Government is keen that instead of export, there should be value addition of the resources at home.
According to State officials, while export of iron ore from the State is to the tune of Rs 8,000 crore annually, the royalty to the State’s kitty is only Rs 80 crore.
The chief minister said a committee, headed by a national expert, would be constituted to monitor quality of construction work pertaining to dams and roads and to plug leakages, among others, noting that politician-contractor nexus had led to poor quality works at many places.
On infrastructure development of the IT capital Bangalore, he said a special task force (ABIDe), under his chairmanship, would start functioning from tomorrow.
“It would look at solutions to ease traffic congestion in the central business district”, he said, adding, it would also work on putting in place long-term infrastructure plans for the city keeping in mind its projected development in the coming decades.
Meanwhine, hitting out at the BJP Government in Karnataka, the Congress said it did not accomplish any achievement in its 100 days in office and described it as “worst and inexperienced.”
“There is no achievement in the last 100 days that calls for celebration. On an average a farmer is committing suicide daily. More than 100 farmers have ended their lives after BJP government came to power. It is unfortunate that BJP is celebrating even in such a situation,” Congress Spokesman B L Shankar told reporters.
“The B S Yeddyurappa government does not belong to BJP party. It is a government supported by independents and defectors. In effect it is also a coalition government,” Shankar, the newly-appointed spokesman, said.
Congress will launch a campaign against the BJP government from 2 October and continue it till the next Lok Sabha elections, he said.
“Weaker sections and minorities are not safe in Karnataka. The recent attack on Churches demonstrate this. Sangh Parivar activists have been targeting minorities under the guise that conversions are on the rise,” he said.
