Ramesh Hoodwinked Bellary Project
Author:
First published in Sanctuary Asia,
Vol. 31
No. 3,
March 2011
Now, H M Mallikarjuna Swamy, under secretary with the Karnataka's Forest and Environment department, had accused the forest division of giving final approval to a mining company for operations in Bellary despite the ban and without state government's approval.
The company Ramgad Minerals and Mining Private limited got final approval (stage-II) for diversion of 335 hectares of forestland in September, 2010 even though the state government had referred the earlier mining by the company in Bellary to Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hedge for investigation.
While imposing the ban, Ramesh had said that new mining projects in Bellary will not be considered till the state chief minister B S Yeddyurappa implements the Lokayukta's report on illegal mining fully. Read the full report here.
Source: Chetan Chauhan, Hindustan Times, New Delhi.
