The Hindu Business Line : A township prepares to close down

After two decades of operation, the mining township of Kudremukh prepares to pack up... leaving its inhabitants with no easy answers about their future.

With the dawn of the New Year, the people of the forest township of Kudremukh have to come to grips with something they had never dreamt of — preparing to pack up and leave the township after living there more than two decades.

For the 10,000-odd residents the countdown to uncertain times has begun, as according to a Supreme Court order, Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd should stop mining activity in the Aroli Gangamula range of the western ghats.

KIOCL had employed, directly or indirectly, over 2,000 people. This was the only industry in Chickmagalur district, a major coffee-growing region.

Students of the three schools in the area, including a Kendriya Vidyalaya, and a junior college too, face an uncertain future. The town's 58 shopkeepers, whose fortunes and families grew with the development of KIOCL, are undecided about their next move.

Employees and officials of KIOCL, however, appear resigned to their fate. If anything, they are banking on the Supreme Court to consider the petitions filed by KIOCL seeking permission for slope stabilisation measures, to protect the region's ecology, before shutting down operations. Besides, they can seek alternative employment at the company's Mangalore plant.

They point out that the apex court's directive is to shut down the mining activity and not the company itself.

Accordingly, the company has filed a separate petition seeking direction on maintaining the slope stability of the sensitive region. The court has posted the hearing for January 2006 even while stating that it wanted the company to first comply with its October 2002 order to cease mining operations forever.

Though wary of commenting on the October 2002 verdict, officials and employees of KIOCL nevertheless cannot hide their emotions and wonder if the company cannot be allowed some more time for mining with suitable technologies to protect the environment.

According to the court order, no non-forest activity should be allowed in Kudremukh, implying no access for human habitation. The township is to be handed over to the State Forest Department.

As we walked through the wooded streets of the neatly laid township, people were out on their evening walk, seemingly unperturbed about the township's uncertain future. Young members of the sports club were preparing to play a game of volleyball under a floodlight — a weekend ritual for them.

During daytime the Janata Bazar, a cluster of first-generation shopkeepers, also buzzed with a routine business day.

However, worry lines the wrinkled face of T. Jagannatha, a teashop owner. "I know that the town will become empty after some time, but I don't know where to go for my livelihood," he says.

Like him, Bhaskar and Abdul Khayum grew up in Kudremukh and set up shops. All of them earn Rs 5,000-10,000 per month, which they say is enough to lead a decent life.

"Where do we go now? Who will give us a job at this stage of our lives?"

These questions haunt many. A strong streak of emotional attachment to the company and the township runs through a cross-section of the employees who wonder if any other mining site was as environmentally clean or modern in its production processes.

Suresh Babu, branch president, Kudremukh Iron Ore Shrama Shakthi Sanghatana and U. Muniappa, vice president of KIOCL union, lament that all efforts of the mining company to safeguard the region's ecology have gone in vain.

More Stories on : Environment | Mining & Quarrying

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