TDP approaches NCST against ‘bauxite mining’ in scheduled areas

The TDP, after talking up the alleged bauxite mining issue with the National Green Tribunal (NGT), has knocked on the doors of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST), seeking its immediate intervention in stopping the “illegal activity” and protecting the forest lands.

The TDP also wants the NCST to inquire into the mining activity and initiate action against the “mining mafia.”

TDP MLC Gummadi Sandhya Rani, former Minister Kidari Sravan Kumar, former MLA G. Eswari, and Telugu Mahila State president V. Anitha wrote a letter to this effect to NCST Chairman Harsh Chouhan on Friday.

Referring to the Supreme Court’s ban on mining in the Scheduled Areas, the TDP leaders alleged that illegal mining was being carried out unhindered in the scheduled areas of East Godavari and Visakhapatnam districts in Andhra Pradesh.

“The YSRCP government, in order to circumvent the apex court’s judgment, is issuing mining permits for laterite. The mining mafia, in collusion with a section of officials, is indiscriminately mining bauxite and selling it to aluminium refineries,” they alleged.

“We request the commission to conduct an inquiry into the illegal bauxite mining in the scheduled areas in Andhra Pradesh. It is also necessary to take severe action against the mining mafia and officials involved,” the TDP leaders said in the letter.