Raghav Sharan Pandey, Secretary (Steel), Government of India, on Saturday met Karnataka chief secretary Sudhakar Rao and discussed options to resolve the issue so that the 1,000-odd workers at KIOCL can start work at the earliest.
KIOCL is a public sector undertaking under the administrative control of the Ministry of Steel. The Supreme Court, in 2002 had ordered the firm to stop mining in the picturesque bio-diversity-rich region of Kudremukh in the Western Ghats where it had been mining ore for over two decades.
Post the 2005 deadline, KIOCL identified the Ramanadurga deposits as the most suitable alternate mining area. These deposits are spread over 6.5 square miles (16.83 sq km) and is estimated to have 210 million tonnes of iron ore deposits. The company has already made a formal application for the grant of mining lease to Karnataka, but it yet to get the required approvals.
"There are hundreds of workers of KIOCL who are struggling. There are some cases in the High Court which are being deliberated upon.
We have urged Karnataka to find an early solution to this issue," Pandey told Business Standard.
