Reviving bauxite mining opens Pandora’s Box

The decision of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu to take up bauxite mining under a special system by Integrated Tribal Development Agency four years after the Centre suspended all the clearances issued to extract the mineral from Visakhapatnam and East Godavari districts has opened a Pandora’s Box. There appears to be no clarity on the decision to reconsider mining in the scheduled areas of Eastern Ghats as the government has not made it clear on the status of agreements signed with Jindal South West Aluminium Limited and Anrak Aluminium Limited. Investments worth over Rs.25,000 crore, including Rs.9,000 crore proposed by State-owned NALCO, were put on hold in August 2010 on the plea of the then Araku MP, V. Kishore Chandra Deo. “Mining by ITDA with an IAS officer at the helm of affairs will also be an infringement on tribal rights,” Mr. Deo told The Hindu.