Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu’s remarks after releasing a white paper on bauxite mining in the Visakha Agency areas on Tuesday leave room for the Government to go ahead with its GO No. 97 which facilitates bauxite mining in the Jerrela area.
Without acknowledging the protests by tribal people and a resolution of the Tribal Advisory Council (TAC) rejecting the proposal, Mr. Naidu said the Government would take a decision on the matter after consulting the local communities.
He made pointed mention that the tribal people need to know about bauxite mining.
The 19-page white paper focuses on the high-quality bauxite reserves available in the Agency areas of Visakhapatnam and East Godavari. It is basically a ready reckoner of information available in the public domain: such as the agreements the previous Congress governments entered into with Anrak and Jindal Southwest, the cost of the Anrak plant at Makavarapalem, the need for the Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation (APMDC) to take up mining since the area falls under Schedule V, the several GOs and other documents the State and Centre have issued in the past, the Kala Committee visit, former Union Minister for Forests and Environment Kishore Chandra Deo getting the Union Cabinet cancel permission for bauxite mining and other developments.
The white paper mentions that the Union Ministry of Mines advised the State Government to take into consideration the TAC’s recommendations (since it is statutory) but glosses over the fact that the TAC of the then Congress government with P. Balaraju as Tribal Welfare Minister passed a resolution against bauxite mining. That Kala Committee faced strong opposition from the local people and was forced to do only an aerial survey is also not mentioned.
The 19-page white paper focuses on the high-quality bauxite reserves available in the Agency areas of Visakhapatnam and East Godavari
