117 firms could be allowed to resume mining

BANGALORE: If the recommendations of the Joint Team who surveyed the three districts of Bellary, Chitradurga and Tumkur are implemented, then nearly 117 mining lessees could be granted permission to resume their mining activities.The Central Empowered Committee (CEC) has prepared a report, a copy of which is available with Express, and will be submitting the same to the Supreme Court on February 10, 2012. The CEC, in the report, has recommended that 45 lessees coming under Category A and A(1) may be allowed to resume mining operations, subject to fulfillment of the stipulated conditions.On the other hand, 72 lessees falling under Category B would be allowed to resume operations, once exemplary compensation/penalty is collected from them. And for Category C, the committee has recommended that the leases should be cancelled owning to substantial involvement in illegal mining.With regard to the seven mining leases falling on the interstate border between Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, the recommendation is, “Should not be presently allowed to resume operations.” They also add that only after the boundary is decided and laid on the ground and the survey sketches finalised, “it should be dealt with accordingly” depending upon the illegalities found.They have also recommended that “in order to mitigate the damage, punitive action must be taken and defaulting lessees must be made to pay for the damage caused to the environment”. Added to this, no new mining leases should be sanctioned in all three districts till the rehabilitation and resettlement is completed.