On September 9, 2010, Ramesh's ministry gave Ramgad Minerals' mines in Karnataka the much-needed Stage II clearance for iron ore mining on 335.04 hectare of forest land. This followed the company's letter on August 5 saying it had completed all formalities and had even deposited R3.15 crore with the state's Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management And Planning Authority. CAMPA funds, the environment ministry says, cannot be deposited unless the state's divisional forest officer demands it.
On March 16, 2011, however, the Karnataka government wrote to Ramesh saying the approval was “contrary to law" since it could be given only after the state recommended such a clearance. In view of this, the letter by HM Mallikarjuna Swamy, undersecretary in the state's forest department, says, “I am directed to request you to take immediate action to cancel the ‘final approval (Stage I)' … (given on) 09-09-2010". The letter added there were boundary disputes which were being investigated by the Karnataka Lokayukta; there was also a ban on forest mining leases in the Bellary district, where the Ramgad mine is — the ban had been imposed by the ministry of environment and forests itself. Read the full report here.
Source: Kirtika Suneja, Financial Express, New Delhi.
