Hyderabad, March 02: Telugu Desam Party (TDP) President N Chandrababu Naidu today urged Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah to call an all-party meeting urgently to discuss illegal mining in Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) and devise ways for protection of natural resources in the state.
In a letter to Mr Rosaiah, a copy of which was released to the press here, he said all efforts should be made to protect the natural resourcaes of the state, by consulting all political parties in the state. Recalling that the reports of two official committees appointed by the State Government had established destruction of boundaries and illegal mining by the company, he said the government had suspended the mining operations of the OMC along with five other companies till the boundary disputes and violation of laws was inquired into by appropriate authorities. The orders, however, were challenged by OMC and AMC before the Andhra Pradesh High Court, which initially stayed the orders of the State Government. The stay orders were, however, got vacated by the efforts taken by the government and senior TDP leader Nagam Janardhan Reddy, who preferred Special Leave Petition (SLP) before the Supreme Court.
Referring to yesterday’s media reports that the above orders of the State Government were struck down by the High Court on technical grounds which enabled the mining companies to resume their mining operations, he claimed that the observations made by the court clearly points out the ”inefficient and indifferent handling of the issue by the government and its legal functionaries.” ”It is a grave situation where states’ natural resources are allowed to be plundered by the mining mafia due to the failure of the State Government to properly present the case before the courts. It is high time that all out effort be made to protect the natural resourcaes of the state, by consulting all political parties in the state. I, therefore, request to call an all-party meeting urgently to discuss the issue of illegal mining and to devise ways for protection of natural resources in the state,” he added.
—Agencies