Hyderabad, December 23 (INN): The Telugu Desam party on Thursday demanded the cancellation of environmental clearances sanctioned to bauxite mining in the Visakhapatnam agency area.
In a letter to the Chairman of Central Expert Committee, Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, who is presently camping at the Visakhapatnam, TDP politburo member Dadi Veerabhadra Rao said that the clearances and Memorandum of Understandings were violating the provisions of Forest Rights Act and Samata Judgment. The two-page letter said that the bauxite mining would adversely impact the environment and livelihood of the tribal in the region.
The TDP leader said that the entire agency has come to a standstill with bandh call given by all-party committee on Tuesday when the committee was slated to visit the area. Earlier, the people had boycotted public hearings and took violent path, he stated. He said that the MoUs entered by the State Government with ANRAK and JINDAL were in flagrant violation of Forest Rights Act and judgment of the Supreme Court in Samatha case.
The TDP leader said that though the APMDC has neither technical and financial capability nor experience in taking up such a vast enterprise, it was used as a vehicle to entrust vast bauxite reserves which would provide annual profit of Rs 3,500 crores to these two companies owned by the followers and partymen of YS Rajasekhar Reddy.
Veerabhadra Rao said that the drinking water sources of the agency and adjoining Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram districts would be depleted and polluted as the proposed mining affects the Sharda, Champavathi and Gosthani rivers. He said the high power committee had come for survey in spite of the assurances given by Union Minister for Panchayat Raj and Tribal Affairs Kishore Chandra Deo to fight against bauxite mining in the agency.
Reiterating that the TDP would hold protest demonstrations against the “government’s designs to protect corporate interests”, he said the party will lead people’s movement to repulse move to lease out bauxite mining in tribal areas. (INN)