24-07-2025
Several organisations plan mega protest against mining policy in Ballari on Aug. 16
Condemning what they termed as retrograde and dangerous policies on mining by the State and Union governments, various orgnaisations will stage a mega protest in Ballari on August 16.
Addressing presspersons in Hubballi on Thursday, president of National Committee for Protection of Natural Resources (NCPNR) and Citizens For Democracy (CFD) S.R. Hiremath said that through the protest they will be demanding effective steps to mitigate the sufferings of the mining-affected people. They will also seek reduction in the annual mining cap to 20 million tonnes.
Mr. Hiremath said that the Joint Action Committee of mining-affected people was already formed during a meeting in Ballari on June 1. Subsequently, like-minded orgnaisations, including Janandolan Maha Maitri, CFD and JPJPS (Agitation Committee for revival of the lives of people and environment), conducted jathas in all the four mining-affected districts of Ballari, Vijayanagar, Chitradurga and Tumakuru to sensitise the residents to the common problems affecting their lives due to continued mining and the need to launch a united fight.
Before the mega protest on August 16, jathas will be taken to mining-affected villages between August 1 and 4 and district committees for the preparation of the projects will be formed. The organisations will give a call to all like-minded organisations working for the cause of the people to join hands with them for the mega protest, he said.
To a query, Mr. Hiremath pointed out that despite the Supreme Court taking a tough stand against indiscriminate mining, both the State and Union governments have managed to get the annual cap for mining increased and now, they wanted to increase it further to 57 million tonnes.
However, the former Supreme Court judge B. Sudarshan Reddy, who has been appointed by the Supreme Court as the Oversight Authority for implementation of the Comprehensive Environmental Plan for Mining Impact Zone (CEPMIZ), has recommended reducing it to 20 million tonnes for the four districts.
Mr. Hiremath said that the JMM, the CFD and the NCPNR welcome the State government's decision to quash the land acquisition process at Devanahalli. It is a historical win for farmers of Devanahalli and Samyukta Horata-Karnataka which led the agitation. However, the farmers and also the organisations will have to be more vigilant as the war is not yet over.
S.A. Mulla of JMM was present.
