Minister for Mines Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy has directed the department officials to focus on sorting out issues relating to forest and environmental (F&E) clearances that were hampering the mining activity in Andhra Pradesh.
Participating in a review meeting on Wednesday, he observed that several businessmen were entering the mining sector enthused by the introduction of e-auctions, but they could not begin their operations due to problems in obtaining the clearances.
The revenue for the government would go up appreciably if clearance process was speeded up. The Department of Environment and Forests would also get income in the form of fees, he observed.
“As many as 5,146 minor mineral leases have been issued in the State and 2,276 leases have all statutory clearances and 133 leases are likely to get the F&E clearances. However, problems have been identified in respect of 144 leases. Steps should be taken to comply with all the requirements,” said the Minister.
Mr. Ramachandra Reddy said that F&E clearances should be given in the specified timeframe. Problems in raising greenery in the case of mines located in forests should be brought to his notice so that the hurdles could be removed.
Waste disposal
The Minister ordered that action should be taken against those dumping waste generated in extracting and processing mines and minerals, in forests as they posed environmental hazards. Guidelines should be framed in this regard, he added.
Special Chief Secretary (Mines and Environment and Forests) Neerabh Kumar Prasad, Principal Secretary (Mines) Gopal Krishna Dwivedi, Andhra Pradesh Environment Impact Assessment Authority chairman Venkatarami Reddy, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Prateep Kumar and Director of Mines and Geology V.G. Venkat Reddy were present in the meeting.
