HYDERABAD: Answering a question in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, the Centre has clarified that no permission was given to mine uranium in Nallamala forest, Amrabad Tiger Reserve and in the catchment area of river Krishna.Vizianagaram MP Chandra Sekhar Bellana on Wednesday asked the Prime Minister whether the Union government has accorded any permission for uranium mining in Nallamala forest, Amrabad Tiger Reserve and the catchment area of Krishna River.
In response, Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions and Prime Minister’s Office Dr Jitendra Singh said that no such permission was given. In 2019, following the proposals by the Department of Atomic Energy and Uranium Corporation of India Ltd (UCIL) to conduct test bores, a team of UCIL had arrived in Padra and Deverakonda of Nalgonda district to conduct a preliminary survey for potential mining. In light of this, the latest development assumes significance.
6 TS dists get LWE expenses
Six districts from Telangana are covered under the Security Related Expenditure (SRE) scheme provided by the Union Government, which is extended to the districts across the country, affected by Left Wing Extremism (LWE). These are Adilabad, Bhadradri-Kothagudem,Jayashankar-Bhupalpally, Kumarambheem, Mancherial and Mulugu. Till June 30, 2022, 11 security personnel were killed in LWE incidents across the country. Telangana reported one death in an LWE incident in 2020, the Union Home Ministry informed the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
The geographical spread of LWE violence has reduced as only 46 districts reported LWE-related violence in 2021 as compared to 96 districts in 2010. The number of SRE districts also came down from 126 to 90 in April 2018 and further to 70 in July 2021. Similarly, the number of districts contributing approximately 90% of the LWE violence, categorised as “Most LWE Affected Districts” came down to 30 from 35 in 2018 and further to 25 in 2021.
Agnipath protests hit TS, Bihar hardest: Railways
Telangana and Bihar witnessed the maximum destruction of railway property due to law and order situation during the year 2022, the Railway Ministry told the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.It said that 244 persons were arrested for their agitation against the Agnipath scheme across South Central Railways headquartered at Secunderabad. During the agitation, one person died and 21 persons were injured.
Till June 2022, the Railways suffered a loss of Rs 259.44 crore due to damage and destruction of its assets. Railways also refunded Rs 102.96 crore on account of cancellation of trains from June 14 to June 30. During the years 2019, 2020 and 2021, due to other agitations, the Railways suffered a loss of Rs 1,117 crore, the Ministry said.
66 villages in TS prone to atrocities against SCs, STs
As many as 66 villages in different parts of Telangana have been identified as prone to atrocities against SCs & STs, the Union Home Ministry has informed the Lok Sabha.Responding to questions from Telangana MPs Komatireddy Venkat Reddy and Manne Srinivas Reddy, the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment told Parliament on Tuesday that these of these 66 villages prone to atrocities, 18 are spread in Nizamabad Commissionerate, 17 in Bhadradri-Kothagudem, nine in Ramagundam Commissionerate, six in Nalgonda, five each in Rachakonda Commissionerate and Mahabubnagar, four in Adilabad and one each in Jagtial and Narayanpet districts.
The Ministry said that the governments of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Telangana and the UT of Andaman & Nicobar Islands have identified the atrocity prone areas, based on the guidelines set by it.
The Ministry said that a total of 5,156 cases of atrocities against SCs were registered, 3,699 charge sheets filed and 4,890 were pending investigation while 1,522 cases of atrocities against STs were registered, 1,125 charge sheets filed and 1,497 cases were pending investigation. These statistics are for the years 2018, 2019 and 2020.