Date:16/05/2005 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2005/05/16/stories/2005051603160500.htm

Andhra Pradesh

NGOs sensitise Girijans on alumina mining

Santosh Patnaik

VISAKHAPATNAM: Non-Governmental organisations (NGOs) are gearing up for a long struggle against the move by the State Government to undertake bauxite mining in the agency areas of Visakhapatnam and East Godavari districts.

Even as the NGOs and the Government are drawing the battle lines for crossing the swords, the anti-mining activists belonging to Samata, Adivasi Mitra, Dandakaranya Liberation Organisation (DLO) and other NGOs recently visited Saparla, GK Veedhi, Papikonda and other areas to sensitise the tribals on the fallout of mining on the forests and their lifestyle.

Sources told The Hindu that after the in-principle agreement between the Andhra Pradesh Mining Development Corporation and the public sector, National Aluminium Company (NALCO), to explore a joint venture proposal, soil testing work was carried out in some areas between Papikonda in East Godavari and Sileru in Visakhapatnam district.

High stakes are involved for the mining lobby as well as the powers-that-be as it is estimated that the agency belt from Papikonda to Sileru contain 700 million tonnes of bauxite deposits.

NGOs say that a Kashipur-type situation is inevitable in the agency areas as the Government seems to have decided to ignore their pleas to protect the eco-system in the Eastern Ghats by dropping the idea of mining bauxite by NALCO and APMDC.