Miners find new way to grab licenses

By SNV Sudhir

Visakhapatnam, Oct 5, 2013: Concerns are being raised over alleged mafia of cement firms trying to push hard to grab lease licenses to mine laterite available in thousands of acres in Sarugudu panchayat coming under Nathavaram mandal in the district.

The applicants now seem to have found a new way to grab the licenses from the state government without a mandatory environmental clearance from the State Level Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), for which public hearing is needed.

Reserves of laterite, which is also used in making cement and bricks, are said to be available in abundance in notified scheduled tribal panchayat, Sarugudu, part of Nagulakonda hills, home for many streams in Nathavaram Mandal.  Around 35 persons applied in 63 applications to mine 30,680, acres of land in Nathavaram Mandal since 2009.

Recently the state government’s mines and geology department on Sep 2 had issued mining lease to a Kakinada based applicant S Bhavani over an extent of 4.970 hectares in un-surveyed area of Sundarakota village, of Sarugudu  panchayat in Nathavaram mandal in the district for 20 years.

The lease was approved after the local mines office of the additional director was given the mining plan by the applicant and the Consent Order for Establishment issued by the local Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB) office. The project was exempted from the process of public hearing as the mining lease area is less than 25 hectares.


Interestingly the same person had applied for two licenses in July, 3 and 17 to mine laterite in Sundarakota panchayat in an extent of 45 acres and 199 acres in Asanagiri. But the applications were never processed as it needed environmental public hearing to know the views of locals in the vicinity and to get the clearance from the SEIAA. The project was exempted from the process of public hearing as the mining lease area is less than 25 hectares.

“I think the applicants have found a way to first enter the mining area. To avoid lengthy process and public hearing this particular applicant had applied separately for a lesser extent so that the lease licenses can be managed at the local APPCB and mines office. Once they enter, what is the guarantee that they mine in only the stipulated extent of the area they were granted the lease. Who will ensure that they will not indulge in illegal mining hoodwinking authorities? If all the applicants choose to take this route, Vizag’s Nathavaram will very soon turn another ‘Bellary’ and hub of illegal mining,” said mining and tribal rights activist G Srinivas.

Earlier the state mining department granted a 14 year lease to one J Lakshman Rao to mine laterite in 121 hectares, in 2010.  It was despite stiff opposition from locals, the pollution control board held a public hearing to give a go ahead for Rao, to mine laterite in the same panchayat in November 2011. The public hearing had witnessed a lot of opposition and SEIAA is yet to give clearance.