Do not allow mining in dense forests,say greens…..Viju B
Mumbai: Miners have been getting away with murderneither refilling these toxic craters nor afforesting dead mining sites as prescribed under the lawand according to environmentalists,this is one of the reasons why leases for mining in dense green zones,such as the Western Ghats,should not given the nod.
The National Mineral Policy,2008 rules that any abandoned mine should be made richer than what it was before through refilling the craters and afforestation.But most miners leave the dead mines in a state of decay.According to the data available with the ministrys Indian Bureau of Mines,there are 297 abandoned mines across the country and most of them are yet to be rehabilitated.
With such carelessness on the part of miners,environmentalists do not seem to be too happy about the state sanctioning 49 mining leases in the eco-sensitive Sindhudurg district,where three are already operational.When TOI visited Kalane village,where mining has been on for the past nine months,the hills around the place resemble a half-eaten cake and the landscape has been stripped of its green cover.A few hundred meters downhill,the Kalane river flows though the forest and provides water to neighboring Goa.It is anybodys guess what will happen when this hill is left like a dead crater and the river turns toxic, says D Stalin,project director of Vanashakti.
People of the Kalane even have an example of the environment horror close at hand.A part of Redi mines,situated about 20 km from Kalane,was abandoned more than two decades ago after extraction of iron ore.But even after so many years,not a single sapling has taken root here.The once green hillocks,that overlooked the pristine Sawantwadi beach,have given way to two huge cratersone of them being filled with murky water and the other has turned into a rocky,dry stretch,with just one casuarina plant standing in the barren pit.
Given the large scale destruction of flora and fauna around,a zeromining policy should be advocated in the Western Ghats, said Sumaira Abdulali of Awaaz foundation who has written to the Union minister of environment and forests Jairam Ramesh.
Adds Claude Alvaris,an environmentalist from Goa,According to the agreement,all that miners have to do is deposit Rs 25,000 per hectares and the amount is deducted if they do not comply with the rules.Mining firms make huge profits and the deposit amount is a pittance for them
* SYSTEMATIC DEGRADATION: The hillocks have given way to two huge craters.One is filled with murky water while the other has a single casuarina tree growing in it