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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Raman, Jairam in mining war by Suchandana Gupta

Raman, Jairam in mining war by Suchandana Gupta

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published Published on Jun 6, 2010   modified Modified on Jun 6, 2010


A tussle between the Chhattisgarh government and the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) over an elephant reserve has reached the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). And the dispute is emblematic of the way the richly forested state is hurtling to get the developed tag by shaving off its pristine tree cover.

Since 2004, the Chhattisgarh government has signed 102 memorandum of understandings (MOUs) with industrial houses for production of steel, sponge iron, power, cement and aluminium. The government claims to have brought Rs 1,65,000- crore investment to the state.

"Questions are being raised because nearly all these MOUs focus on minerals and mining industries, and were signed on the basis of private negotiations without any fair competition," says Sudiep Shrivastava, a "Bilaspu-based lawyer and activist.

It is indeed a polarising debate, one which impelled Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh to approach the PMO when the environment minister Jairam Ramesh rejected his recommendation for mining lease to eight industrial houses in Hasdeo Arand forests, home to many of the state’s elephants, because it would lead to cutting down 17 lakh trees.

Increasing mining in Jharkhand and Orissa has forced herds of elephants to migrate to the forests of Sarguja, Jashpur and Korba in Chhattisgarh. A proposal for an elephant reserve of over 384sqkm in Hasdeo Arand forests was sent to the Centre in 2002 by the state forest department. ‘‘But in 2006, the Raman Singh government found that a coal block of 100sqkm fell within the elephant reserve,’’ said Meetu Gupta of an NGO, Wildlife SOS. Since the state government had already recommended mineral concessions for a number of industrial houses, it withdrew the proposal to the Centre and shrunk the reserve area by 100sqkm. It’s four years since the Centre cleared the proposal but the state government hasn’t yet notified the sanctuary.

It’s learnt the state government signed MOUs with Tata Steel and Essar in June and July 2005. Tata would produce 5 million tonne and

Essar 3.2 million tonne of integrated steel per annum. Says Sudiep Shrivastava, ‘‘It takes 1.8 tonnes of iron ore to produce one tonne of steel. While the market price for iron ore is around Rs 3,500 per tonne, the cost of raw material from captive mine is Rs 500 per tonne.’’

With this arithmetic, Tata would reduce cost of production by Rs 2,700 crore per annum, he claimed. Chhattisgarh government’s MOUs assure full assistance in the form of land, minerals, water, infrastructure, etc.

A minister during Congress rule, Bhupesh Baghel claims that the state government is recklessly signing MOUs. ‘‘Some of these companies exist only on paper and have no experience of setting up of a steel or power plant,’’ Baghel told TOI. NavBharat Coal Fields was allotted a coal block in Hasdeo Arand. This little-known company was sold to Solar Explosive Limited, 18 months after the coal block allocation, as per the information of the National Stock Exchange. Similarly, iron ore areas have been recommended for Pushp Steel and Power, Bambaleshwari Ispat, Akshay Investment, even in the name of an individual Santosh Agarwal.

‘‘The state has even sold our rivers to industrial houses. Chhattisgarh was the first state to commercialise water. In 2001, it allowed a private company, Radius Water, to sell water to industries on Shivnath river in Durg. This deal was purely on the basis of a private negotiations. Today, there is not a single river in the state that does not have industries on the banks. Wherever there is water, industrial plants have been set-up. Contrary to the national water policy, much of the state government’s water plans solely benefit industrial houses,’’ he added.


The Times of India, 7 June, 2010, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Raman-Jairam-in-mining-war/articleshow/6018247.cms


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