KIOCL gets 1-year work permit

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, JULY 25. Although it came a day late, the Ministry of Environment and Forests of the Union Government today communicated to the Karnataka Government that its request for grant of a one-year work permit for Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd (KIOCL) had been granted.

This means the KIOCL may continue operations in the present 1,472 hectares of broken area for 12 more months. However, it has also been asked to expedite the work on the report from the Nagpur- based National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, which has conducted the impact assessment, before the KIOCL's request for a fresh 20-year mining lease can be granted, KIOCL sources said.However, the operations in Kudremukh have been closed for some time following a leakage in the iron ore slurry pipeline a week ago, which had sent alarm bells ringing after the leakage was spotted downstream of Yennehole river that passes through 23 villages.

Operations have been closed mainly because the spot where the leak has occurred thanks to incessant rains, and a landslip that followed.The KIOCL's Director, Mr. S. Murari, now awaits a clearance from the State Government for the one-year permit, and operations are expected to resume once the leakage is plugged in a few weeks.

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Section  : Southern States
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