Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa has sought a ban on export of iron ore and other minerals to prevent loss of natural resources.
In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, he said, “There is an urgent need for a comprehensive policy to ban the export of iron ore and ensure such precious minerals are utilised for value addition within the country.”
The chief minister’s letter comes in the wake of a raging controversy in the state over the rampant export of iron ore illegally mined in the mineral-rich districts of north Karnataka over the years.
Admitting that pressure on the export of iron ore continued despite the state’s efforts to check it, Yeddyurappa said, the unbridled export of minerals would lead to the loss of precious natural resources.
“At this rate, in a few years, the country will exhaust all its mineral resources. Unless we put an end to this, we will be doing a great dis-service to our future generations,” Yeddyurappa noted.
In this context, the chief minister urged the prime minister to call for a meeting of the chief ministers of mineral-rich states to consider banning the export of iron ore and minerals.
Noting that overexploitation of mines and illegal mining had been a major concern of all mineral-rich states, Yeddyurappa said, despite the best efforts of the state governments, the menace persisted resulting in indiscriminate export of iron ore and other minerals.
“Unless iron ore export is banned, the undue exploitation of natural resources and illegal mining will continue,” Yeddyurappa pointed out.
The BJP government in the state took the initiative to bring out a value-added policy in the mining sector. Karnataka was the first state to introduce such a policy in December 2008 for granting mining leases. Mining of iron ore or other minerals is allowed only for value addition to curb the export of iron ore in the form of raw material, he said.
In accordance with the new policy, the state government recently signed agreements with a dozen firms, including ArcelorMittal, Posco, Essar and Tata Metaliks for setting up steel plants in the iron-rich belt of Bellary district in north Karnataka.
The state government has also decided to stop issuing bulk permits, which were being misused by miners. Instead, specific permits will be issued for each load and trip.
Besides introducing bar coding and hologram-based trip-sheets to improve tracking of consignments and avoiding fake permits, the government has placed integrated check-posts at key locations across the state for better coordination of various departments like mining, forest, commercial taxes, transport and PWD.
The state government plans to introduce e-permits to ensure transparency and accountability.
Meanwhile, Karnataka Lok Ayukta N Santosh Hegde, who withdrew his resignation on Saturday, said he supported the appeal of chief minister B S Yeddyurappa to the Prime Minister on banning export of iron ore and other minerals.
“It is a wonderful idea. It can be put in place without difficulty, though there will be lobbies (against the ban),” Hegde told reporters in the presence of Yeddyyurappa and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Nitin Gadkari here.
On the chances of stopping illegal mining in Karnataka, Hegde said, “absolutely is the answer. Whosoever, howsoever powerful they may be, will be stopped, if Yeddyurappa implements the assurances he has given.”
The three main political parties in Karnataka, BJP, Congress and Janata Dal-Secular, have mining barons in their ranks.
G Janardhana Reddy, minister for tourism and his elder brother G Karunakara Reddy, minister for revenue, are mining magnates with mines in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and are facing charges of forest land encroachment and massive illegal mining of iron ore.
