Bhubaneswar: After stopping operations at 26 Iron ore and Manganese mines at the behest of the Supreme Court of India, the Odisha government has also taken steps to close operations at 3 Chrome mines located in the Sukinda Chrome valley in the Jajpur district. The mines include Tata Steel’s Sukinda Chrome mines, Kamarda Chrome mines of BC Mohanty & sons Pvt Ltd. These mines were operating under second and subsequent renewal.
“ Tata has suo motto stopped production from 17 May, 2014 before any order from the government. On the other hand, Mishrilal mines has been asked to stop production as the lease validity of the mine was expired on 14 May, 2014. But in case of B.C. Mohanty mines, we have asked more clarity from the government,” said Mr. Prafulla kumar Sethy, DDM, Jajpur Road.
The Sukinda Chromite mine of Tata Steel is spread over 406 hectares, including 106 acres of forest land. The lease validity for 20 years lapsed on 11 Jan, 2013, which was extended for 3 months last year. Later the company was granted temporary working permit by the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) for one year, which was expired on 12Apr, 2014.
The Divisional Forest Officer of Jajpur on January last year had asked Tata to stop Chrome production in absence of temporary working permit/forest clearance. However, the company has challenged the order in the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court in the first week of April this year has allowed the company to continue mining till 9 May, 2014.
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