The Hindu Business Line : Mining in tribal tract draws flak

Girijans in the Anantagiri mandal of Visakhapatnam are opposing the State Government policy of leasing out the hilly slopes to private individuals and agencies for mining, complaining that it will deprive them of their meagre means of livelihood.

The Industries Department has leased out some of the lands to some individuals for extracting white clay, mica and calcite, triggering a row in the villages in the mandal. The Visakhapatnam-based NGO, Samata, which once moved the Supreme Court for the sake of the Girijans in another case, is supporting their cause.

There were protests at Thuburthi village on Monday and the agitators, including the activists of Samata, were picked up by the police for opposing mining in the area. The Girijans, also supported by the workers of the CPM, staged a demonstration on Tuesday at Anantagiri in protest against the action of the officials.

Mr R. Ravi, the Executive Director of Samata, said here on Tuesday that it was really unfortunate that the State Government was encouraging mining and giving mining rights to private individuals in the agency (tribal) area in violation of the Supreme Court verdict.

He alleged that the tribals were being evicted in the area and some of them were taken to the police station on Monday and beaten up. He said all sorts of dubious methods were being employed to dispossess the tribals of their land, which they were cultivating for years.

He said the State Government seemed to be bent on bringing the industrial houses into the area, in utter disregard of the apex court's judgements and the appeals of the tribals and NGOs. "The ecology of the area is very sensitive and any kind of mining will have a disastrous impact on the lives of Girijans and pollute the environment. That is why we are also opposed to the Government's proposal to allow bauxite mining in the agency area of Visakhapatnam district," he explained.

He said all such attempts would be resisted.

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