In a direct confrontation with India’s ministry of steel, the government of the southern Indian state of Karnataka has stopped the transfer of forest land to the pellet maker KIOCL Limited, which was necessary for the commencement of operations at Devadari iron ore mine, sources said on Monday, June 24.
Last week, the federal ministry of steel and the administration in charge of government-run KIOCL had approved the operationalization of the Devadari mines by the latter, giving it access to 3 million mt per year iron ore and raw material security to its 3.5 million mt per year pellet plant.
In a letter dated June 21, the Karnataka Forest, Ecology and Environment Ministry directed officials not to transfer forest land to the company.
KIOCL had proposed to start operations in 401.5 hectares of forest land in the Devadari forest in the Swamimalai block and 100,000 trees were expected to be felled in the forest area if the company were to go ahead with its mining plan.
“There are complaints that KIOCL has failed to implement the directions of the Centrally Empowered Committee (CEC) within the stipulated time, over violations that took place when the company took up mining activity at Kudremukh national forest,” the state ministry said.
The ministry also directed the forest department not to transfer the land until KIOCL implemented the directions of the CEC, which was formed after the company was taken to the Supreme Court over allegations that its open-cast mining had polluted the Bhadra river.
The mining operations in Devadari were expected to offer a lifeline to KIOCL following the closure of iron ore mining in Kudremukh in the Chikkamagaluru district in 2006, and the company has been dependent on ore from NMDC Limited’s supplies from mines in Chhattisgarh state to feed raw materials to its pellet plant.