TIMES IMPACT
49 mining leases in eco-rich Sindhudurg put on hold….Viju B
49 mining leases in eco-rich Sindhudurg put on hold….Viju B
Mumbai: The thickly-wooded Western Ghats escaped a major ecological calamity as the Maharashtra government this week put on hold 49 mining projects in the verdant Sindhudurg district.
The state mining departments decision to denotify the 49 mining areas in the lush region came in the wake of a series of reports in The Times of India that highlighted the impending environmental disaster.Days after the first report appeared on October 15,Union environment minister Jairam Ramesh had written to then chief minister Ashok Chavan,demanding a relook at the leases.He followed it up in November with a similar missive to Prithviraj Chavan,the new CM.
Sindhudurg has the highest green cover in Maharashtra and was declared the countrys first eco-tourism district in 1997.Over the last three years,the government granted 53 mining leasesmany on the basis of fabricated environment impact assessment reportsin the district,of which four are already operational.We have called for all files related to the 49 mining leases,including environment impact assessment reports, said state environment secretary Valsa Nair Singh.
* TOI,in a series of reports over the last three months,had highlighted the grave danger posed by mining to the flora and fauna of the eco-sensitive Sindhudurg belt,which has the highest green cover in the state
* Green cover in Sindhudurg – 49%
* Area under mining leases – 11,573 hectares
* Leases in Sawantwadi-Dodamarg alone – 32
MINED MINERALS:
Iron ore, gold, diamonds, bauxite, copper, nickel, chromium, platinum, lead, zinc, magnetite, graphite, mica and pyrophyllite
TIMES IMPACT
GREENS HAIL LIFELINE …..Viju B
ACTIVISTS AND VILLAGERS APPLAUD GOVTS REVIEW OF MINING LEASES IN SINDHUDURG,CALL FOR MORE ACTION
GREENS HAIL LIFELINE …..Viju B
ACTIVISTS AND VILLAGERS APPLAUD GOVTS REVIEW OF MINING LEASES IN SINDHUDURG,CALL FOR MORE ACTION
Environmental activists on Thursday hailed the state governments decision to put on hold 49 mining projects in the verdurous Sindhudurg district as a major step forward.
Greens have for long been fighting to get the Sawantwadi-Dodamarg region notified as an Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) like Matheran and Dahanu.
This is like a lifeline for us.We are hopeful that this will help declaring the region an ESA, said Dr Jayendra Parulekar,a Sawantwadi-based activist.This will not only save the flora and fauna of the Western Ghats,which has been identified as one of the worlds 12 ecological hot spots,but mitigate adverse socio-economic impact like large-scale urban migration and farmer suicides.
The news also delighted members of the 24 gram sabhas that had opposed mining in Sindhudurg on the grounds that it will ruin their rivers,for- ests and land.
We still do not have a well in our village. We get fresh water throughout the year from river streams.This water irrigates our fields.Our village is self-sustained and there is hardly any unemployment, said Sandeep Sawant,a resident of Asniya village,which faced the threat of mining in nearby hills.
Activists say Maharashtra should not go the way of neighbouring Goa,which ruined its ecology,destroyed kilometres of forest cover and polluted its main rivers like Mandovi and Zuari after clearing 110 mines in 10 talukas.We have the horrific example of Goa before us.Do we need to repeat this monumental ecological blunder in Maharashtra said D Stalin,project director of NGO Vanashakti.
Goa-based activist Ramesh Gavas agreed: Goa got Rs 65 crore as royalty last year from mining,while it got a whopping Rs 1,500 crore from tourism.
Sumaira Abdulali of Awaaz Foundation explained that Maharashtra owed its generous monsoons to the green canopy of the Western Ghats.Ecologically,the Western Ghats are as important as the Himalayas.We should preserve them at all costs since they are the last remaining green cover we have in the country, Abdulali said.
Greens claim that miners do not afforest dead mines as required under the National Mineral Policy.The police mandates that that a mined area be left richer than before through refilling and afforestation.A case in point is the Reddy mines which is now a huge crater
filled with toxic water.There are 297 such abandoned mines in the country, Stalin said.
filled with toxic water.There are 297 such abandoned mines in the country, Stalin said.
Operational mines to be reviewed
It is a known fact that EIA reports are done in a haphazard manner and there are several inherent flaws in them. Singh added that a detailed review would be conducted of the operational mines.
The denotification means that companies cannot dig away for minerals in the region until the Union ministry of environment and forests lifts its moratorium on mining in Sindhudurg and Ratnagiri.It also forces them to seek fresh permissions from both central and state agencies before applying again.
The denotification happened after it was found that many areas in Sindhudurg are ecologically fragile and mining may adversely impact tourism in the area, a senior state industry official said.
Of the 49 permissions,32 were granted in the Sawantwadi-Dodamarg area,which has the highest forest cover in Sindhudurg.The area boasts of rich wildlife and makes up a major portion of the green corridor between Koyna sanctuary in Satara district and the Anshi-Dandeli tiger reserve in Karnataka.
State mining officials believe that minerals worth Rs 10,000 crore lie in the rich subsoil of the Western Ghats.Apart from iron ore and bauxite,the region is rich in old, diamonds, copper, nickel, chromium, platinum,and the like.
TOI visited one of the operational mines in the Sawantwadi-Dodamarg areaKalane mine run by Mines and Metals Pvt Ltdlast week and found hills denuded of forestry.Though it became operational 10 months ago,the mine has caused visible environmental damage.
* COVER STORY: Since October,The Times of India has been persistently following the states approval for large-scale mining in Sindhudurg
* UPROOTED: An operational mine in Sawantwadi-Dodamarg has stripped the surrounding area of all greenery