The National Green Tribunal (NGT), Southern Zone, has recently disposed of a case related to a mining project in Karnataka’s Sandur forest.
The case was filed suo motu by the tribunal based on a news article published dated June 17, 2024.
The article highlighted the proposal by the Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited (KIOCL) to mine iron ore and manganese ore in the Sandur forest, which would result in the felling of approximately 99,000 trees, including 300 types of medicinal plants.
The project had received the green signal from the Industries and Steel Ministry, despite being rejected by the Forest Department at four levels between June 2019 and February 2020.
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) filed a report stating that the forest area in question is a subject matter of the State Government, which has the primary responsibility to determine the status of any parcel of land following the rules and regulations.
The MoEF&CC also granted Environmental Clearance to KIOCL for the Devadari Iron Ore Mine, which was subsequently approved by the Expert Appraisal Committee.
KIOCL filed a counter statement stating that they had obtained all the statutory clearances, including Consent for Establishment, Mining Lease, and Government Order for diversion of forest land.
The Forest Department had already started compensatory afforestation work, and KIOCL had proposed to plant around 6.42 lakhs saplings in 803.1522 hectares of compensatory afforestation land.
The NGT, after considering the reports and counter statements, directed KIOCL to strictly comply with all the conditions imposed in the clearances and any other directions issued by MoEF&CC and the State Government from time to time.
The Division Bench of Judicial Member Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana and Expert Member Dr Satyagopal Korlapati disposed of the case, noting that KIOCL had obtained all necessary statutory permissions and approvals from the Competent Authority.
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