A Supreme Court-appointed
committee to survey 42 iron ore mines in two districts of Karnataka has cleared
only two mines for resumption of operations and will decide on a third in a few
weeks.
Among the 39 defaulting mines is Sesa
Goa Ltd's Narrain mine in Chitradurga, the company's second-largest mine
in the country with production capacity of 6 million tonnes (mt) a year.
Iron ore production in India has
slumped after the Supreme Court banned mining of the commodity in Karnataka,
the country’s second-largest producer, this year owing to environmental
concerns.
“The joint survey team
deliberated on the findings of the field survey and decided to clear only two
mines for resumption of operation,” said a forest official who participated in
the survey operations. The official declined to be identified for this report.
The panel, which completed the
assessment last week, has cleared a private mine each in Chitradurga and Tumkur
districts, said another person who participated in survey operations.
In Bellary, the joint survey
panel cleared 24 out of 99 mines for resumption of operations in September.
Production can resume only after a final order from the Supreme Court.
The forest official mentioned
earlier said the survey team will now begin classifying the defaulting mines as
those with serious and non-serious violations.
The CEC will recommend to the
apex court that mines with non-serious violations be allowed to resume mining
after paying fines and going through a complex process of so-called reclamation
and rehabilitation (R&R) operations.
Mines with serious violations
will have their licences cancelled. These too will have to pay fines and be
part of the R&R operations.
Source: Livemint.com
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