Ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s firebrand leader and its vice-president Uma Bharti today asserted that she would soon take on Anglo-Australian mining behemoth Rio Tinto for escaping from sharing the benefit with the poor people of her native region Bundelkhand after extracting copious amounts of diamonds.
Citing a gruesome incident which can challenge the tall claims of his own government’s oft-repeated claims that none died of hunger in Madhya Pradesh, Uma said, “A family head in Buxwaha village in proximity of mines from where Rio Tinto extract diamonds, axed his entire family members to death since he could not feed them.” However she further clarified, “I am not suspecting state chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan or his honesty but this disparity should not prevail further in the region.”
She further said she would soon corner the company to extract details of quantity of mining and value of diamonds which the company has so far taken away from the region and also make it sure that the company shares the benefit with the local people.
Rio Tinto, which has presence in Indian since 1930 named its ambitious Bundelkhand project Bunder (locally meaning monkeys) inspired by the monkeys of the area. It is most advanced diamond mining project and company’s first in India. This is also the first Australian investment in Madhya Pradesh to the tune of Rs 2000 crore (US $ 500 million) approximately.
The company’s reconnaissance programme began in 2002 when BJP was not in power but it discovered deposits when Uma Bharti took reigns from the Digvijay Singh led Congress government in 2004. A prospecting license was given to the company in 2006.
In earlier stage when the company completed its magnitude study in 2008 indicated that deposits in the Bunder project may yield 27.4 million carats of diamonds. Later in 2009 the company obtained a renewed license and revised its estimates to 34.2 million carats of diamonds from 57.3 million ton of Kimberlite. It is said that a geologist wife first spotted outcrop that might have given next Koh-e-Noor in 2004 in the region where banditry is the only option for survival for the poor.
“The Bunder Deposit is estimated to be seven times richer than the nearby Panna mine, with a likely production rate at least 20 times greater. Madhya Pradesh would therefore rank, in terms of volume and value, in the top ten diamond producing regions of the world,” the company has said on its website.
Talking tough against the company, Bharati said, “They (Rio Tinto) were a black listed company and never dared to come near me when I used to call meetings with potential miners in capacity of Union minister of mines during NDA regime. I was about to frame a policy but then I resigned and came to Madhya Pradesh.
There should be a policy like that Energy Policy under which a private power generating company shares 12 percent of its generation with state. The mining companies should also share with the region.”
Rio Tinto has presence in India since 1930 when a subsidiary of the Rio Tinto Alcan Group, Indal starts operations in India.
Raising other issues she said she was confident that her party would retain power with a thumping majority and she would raise issue of Ken-Betwa river linking project. “The project was conceived under guidance of our prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, it needs to be started soon.” On another issue she said there were number of complaints of illegal mining in Narmada Valley and she would take up them with the state chief minister Shivraj Singh once the government is formed. “These mines will stall free flow of the holy river.”
Bharati also did not spare the corruption issue and asserted she would cooperate the government to make it sure that the state government should have crime and corruption free environment.
