BHUBANESWAR: Deputy Chief Minister KV Singh Deo on Wednesday asserted in the Assembly that the BJP government will never allow bauxite mining in Gandhamardan hills.
Reacting to Opposition attack on the government in the House during zero hour, the deputy chief minister said Gandhamardhan hills will never be allowed to be destroyed.
Targeting the BJD over the issue, the deputy CM said that the previous government allowed Adani group to purchase land in the area. Permission for purchase of land by the company was not given by the present BJP government, he said and added this government will never take such a decision.
Assuring the members that there is no plan of the state government to allow mining in the area, Singh Deo said he will join the protest if any such activity is allowed in the region.
The issue of purchase of land by Adani group near Gandhamardan hills in Balangir district was raised by the BJD with deputy leader of its legislature party Prasanna Acharya demanding a clarification from the government in this regard.
Raising the issue, Acharya sought to know if the government has given permission to the group for bauxite mining in the area. He said permission had been given to a company to extract bauxite in 1980 but the move triggered a massive public protest. After coming to power in 1990, then chief minister Biju Patnaik had cancelled the decision, he said.