Reported by Moneylife.in on July 09, 2012
Who 'sponsored' Kala Committee's 'lavish' bauxite mining ‘tour’ in Visakhapatnam? - Moneylife Personal Finance site and magazine

Kala Committee, which was supposed to conduct a field visit of the bauxite mining areas of Visakhapatnam, in fact did an aerial survey by a helicopter, apparently sponsored by mining companies!

EAS Sarma, former secretary to the Government of India (GoI) is angry with the ministry of environment & forests (MoEF) and its officials for hesitating in rejecting a clearance report. He is also angry with the expert committee appointed under the chairmanship of JC Kala for studying the impact of bauxite mining in and around Visakhapatnam and the committee's report.

Mr Sarma, in a letter to Jayanthi Natarajan, minister for environment & forests, said, "I had pointed out in my letter of 3 February 2012 how Kala Committee failed to visit the bauxite mining areas of Visakhapatnam as the local tribals organized a bandh against its visit. The only visit that was made by it to the area was in a helicopter, that too funded by the mining companies from whom the committee was expected to maintain an arm's length distance! It was the mining companies which provided hospitality to the committee who summoned the tribals from their villages to meet the committee at Visakhapatnam. I requested MoEF to scrap the committee and not to entertain its recommendations for these reasons."

According to Mr Sarma, the committee, which was supposed to do a field visit to the bauxite mining areas near Vishakhapatnam, failed to do so. "The committee had apparently mentioned about its "field visits" to the bauxite mining areas. It is factually incorrect as the only visit that the committee made was by a helicopter which would not have afforded it an opportunity to understand the local environment. Even the helicopter was financed by the mining companies which affected the credibility of the committee's intentions," the former secretary alleged.

In fact, according to information sought under the Right to Information (RTI) Act by Captain J Rama Rao, the Kala Committee, during its visit to Vishakhapatnam, stayed at a star hotel spending about Rs3.88 lakh for lodging and boarding alone. The total expenditure of Rs19 lakh incurred by the committee was paid for by Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation (APMDC). This includes Rs13.78 lakh for chartering a helicopter to enable the committee to do an aerial survey the bauxite mining areas instead of field visit.

"The aerial visit made it difficult for the committee to speak with the girijans (tribals) from the mining areas and instead the committee called these people to Vizag. The girijans were rightly reluctant to travel outside their forest habitat. Not many of them could therefore meet the committee at Vizag. We suspect that a few who finally turned up at Vizag were those who were provided transport by the mining companies," said Mr Sarma in his letter.

According to the former secretary, the committee, in its report has apparently concluded that "...mining is far above ground water level and provision of garland drains and other measures will contain surface runoff and in turn stream pollution, no direct displacement of people, no vegetation in bauxite areas because of rocky out crop and adverse, no significant eco-sensitive areas, no threat as such to any primitive community and no historical or cultural monuments affected".

"When the committee never visited the area and never interacted with the tribals, such a sweeping statement should not have been made. Apparently, the committee merely echoed the words of the mining companies involved. None of its members had the professional qualifications to make such a statement," said Mr Sarma.

Even, Kishore Chandra Deo, Union minister for tribal affairs and the local Member of Parliament (MP) has requested the governor of Andhra Pradesh, to invoke powers under Clause 5 of the Fifth Schedule to the Constitution and cancel the bauxite mining franchises give in Visakhapatnam. According to Mr Sarma, Mr Deo is a senior MP and is fully familiar with the concerns of the local tribals and legal infirmities in the mining franchises.

Another shocking aspect of the Kala Committee is it mentions the name of Dr SK Rao, director general of Hyderabad-based Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) as one of its member. However, Dr Rao, in a letter to Dr Tishya Chatterjee, secretary, MoEF, has clearly expressed his dismay for mentioning his name in the Kala Committee report.

"In my letter of 19 December 2011, to the MoEF, I indicated clearly that I would not be able to join the committee after becoming aware of the terms of reference for it. Despite this, I am disappointed that I was listed as a member of the Kala Committee. Would you therefore issue a clarification to all concerned including the media that I was not a member of this committee and I had no role whatsoever in regard to this report," Dr Rao said in the letter.

Mr Sarma, the former secretary of power and finance, requested Ms Natarajan, minister for environment & forests to reject the report of JC Kala Committee review the clearances given for bauxite mining and cancel it in the interest of the tribals.