BENGALURU: With the Forest Department recommending 10 more companies for suspension of their mining leases, the Mines and Geology Department is in the process of sending notices to these companies that are located just 1 km outside the boundary of the Bannerghatta National Park (BNP) with some being very close to the protected area.
The Mines and Geology department had shut down the operations of five stone crushing and quarrying companies on April 26 based on the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) order stating that in the absence of ESZ notification, no mining activity can be allowed within 10 km of the boundary of a national park/tiger reserve/wildlife sanctuary.With the five mining companies filing a plea against their closure in the Karnataka High Court, both the Mines and Geology and forest departments have conducted a joint survey of the 15 mining leases that fall within the buffer zone of 10 km of the BNP.
Action soon
Mines and Geology Director N S Prasanna Kumar told The New Indian Express, “The forest department should sustain and stand by their report. Based on their initial observations and prima facie, we have taken action against five companies. But as far as the other 10 companies are concerned, I don’t want to proceed based only on the forest department recommendations, and therefore, I will take action only after receiving the Joint Survey Report in which these 10 leases too have been surveyed. However, none of the 15 have clearances from the National Board of Wildlife. Further, before passing orders against the 10 companies, I will visit these places to draw a specific opinion.”
The Mines and Geology department adds that they have taken these 15 cases very seriously so that they can come to a right conclusion as the matter cannot be delayed further with companies filing plea in the High Court. Mining officials further said that on their part, for each and every lease, they go to the forest department for clearances be it reserve/state forest or protected areas. The Director adds, “We are planning to hold another meeting with the forest department after the submission of the Joint Survey Report.”
Forest department’s take
The Forest department stresses that mining activity that is presently going on is outside 1 km of BNP boundary while there is no such activity inside the park.