Eco-hostile state promotes toxic mines for tourism………Viju B
Mumbai: Unmindful of the ecological havoc being wreaked across the state,an unabashed Maharashtra government is caught putting its greenerywrecking toxic mines on the tourist map.
The Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDS) has not only selected a bauxite mine in Amboli,along with a waterfall and the coastline,as a tourist hotspot but has also promoted the visit to the mine as a pleasant and different expedition for visitors.
The state has taken this green-hostile move in spite of Sindhudurg being declared as the first eco-tourism district in the country 13 years ago and since then,being featured as a green haven in the states Maharashtra Unlimited campaign.However,when TOI asked senior tourism department officials if they had now shifted their focus from trying to save the forests to showcasing toxic mines,they admitted that it was a gross blunder.It is a big mistake, said Vijay Chavan,MTDC general manager,adding that the department was all for promoting eco-tourism in Sindhudurg and not mining business there.We will remo ve that bit of information from the MTDC site immediately.
Environmental activists are shocked that the MTDC,which is suppose to promote eco-tourism,is showcasing nature-destroying mines.States like Goa and Kerala,which have similar landscape and climate,are trying to push the green cause ahead through tourism.In contrast,politicians here support the mining lobby that will destroy the Western Ghats, said D Stalin,project director of NGO Vanashakti,which has been working on the mining issue.
Agrees Dr Jayendra Parulekar,an activist from Sawantwadi.Amboli is known as the Lonavala of Sindhudurg.It is,in fact,even better than Lonavla as most of its part is covered in a dense forest.Thanks to the green cover,the temperature drops to as low as 10 degrees Celsius in winter evenings and in summer,the mercury slides down to 20 degrees Celsius.But unfortunately,even this area is not spared of mining, he said.
Last week,TOI ran a campaign against the 49 proposed mining leases approved by the state in Sindhudurg that will spell doom for the eco-sensitive Western Ghats.Of the leases,32 have been sanctioned in the SawantwadiDodamarg zone,which has the highest forest cover in the district and is part of the corridor used by animals in Maharashtra and Karnataka.Taking cognizance of the TOI reports,Union minister Jairam Ramesh asked chief minister Ashok Chavan to review the proposals.
* MINE GAMES: The state has zeroed in on a mine in Amboli to draw tourists