Kudremukh: Fact Sheet

Mining Lease of KIOCL

Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd. (KIOCL), has been mining for iron ore in the Kudremukh region of Chickamagalur district of Karnataka on the basis of a 30 year mining lease No. 909 dated 25 July 1969, originally extended to National Minerals Development Corporation (NMDC) and which expired on 24 July 1999. A temporary extension of a year was extended by the Ministry of Environment and Forests on 16 July 1999 subject to various conditions, including conduct of comprehensive environment impact assessments and obligation of the State Government to notify the National Park within the said period. The extension allowed mining in already broken up area, i.e. 1,452.74 ha. of forest land, but did not make a mention of the fate of the already broken revenue land area of 1220.03 ha.

The original mining lease of 1969 allowed 5218 hectares for mining. However, about 613 hectares were surrendered on 15 July 1972, thus leaving 4,605 hectares for use by the company as per the lease conditions. Upto 3,200 hectares of this land is "forest land" and KIOCL, since its inception in 1976, has broken up 2672 hectares comprising 1,452 hectares of forest land and 1,220 hectares of revenue land for various purposes. Actual mining, however, has taken place on only 450 hectares of land. It can thus be observed that mining in this mountainous region results in wanton use of this thickly forested region.

Forests and Rivers of Kudremukh:

The Kudremukh National Park forms an important area of the Western Ghats forests. This National Park was notified in 1987 by the State of Karnataka by including the areas under the Tungabhadra State Forest, the South Bhadra State Forest, the Naravi Reserve Forest & the Andar Reserve Forest, consisting an area of about 600 sq .kms. It is comprised of tropical evergreen forests, the Shola Grasslands & mixed evergreen forests with plantations in the peripheries. The altitude ranges from 300m in the lowlands to the highest peak of Kudremukh at 1892 m. It receives rainfall of about 7000 mm. Two major tributaries, the Tunga & Bhadra originate in the Bhagavathi forest. The Bhadra flows through Malleswara and Nellibeedu areas where the Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited is mining & joins the Tunga at Bhadravathi to form Tungabhadra, a major South Indian river that eventually joins the Krishna river in the Deccan Plateau forming large and fertile floodplains.

Impact of Mining in Kudremukh:

The Western Ghats are increasingly under threat from the combined pressures of mining, deforestation and submergence by dams. Large scale encroachment has also been reported in recent years, especially by well connected large farmers. The fragmentation of these forests could form a major threat to species conservation, and the lack of green cover on these rising mountains could result in the devastating cycle of floods and droughts in the downstream areas. Such impact is already visible in the Tungabhadra dam, which has lost half its life, within four decades of its construction, due to high rates of siltation.

Mining, apart from destroying completely the habitat complex of highly threatened flora & fauna, has also resulted in high degree of pollution of the rivers and land surrounding the watercourse. The extensive mining operations of KIOCL over the past 25 years have depleted the shola forests and replaced them with heaps of mined waste. The area which was once known for its scenic splendor, has ugly scars of the mines and its attendant facilities. The impacts of mining at the source of the rivers Bhadra & Tunga, are yet to be fathomed. Several naturalists have accounted for the disappearance of many varieties of fish due to pollution from mining, especially the highly threatened Mahseer. Farmers complain of decline in agricultural productivity downstream due to deposition of mine tailings. Communities complain of sickness and disease due to pollution of a river, a major source of potable water. Yet, the company dismisses these claims, but without substantiating the same with transparent and regular monitoring of impacts.

Further, KIOCL prides itself by claiming that massive afforestation works have been undertaken to mitigate the damage to the forests and rivers due to mining. It claims over 75 lakhs (7.5 million) of Acacia, Eucalyptus and other exotic trees have been planted. Not realising, however, that such mono-culture forests are not a replacement to the diverse and unique natural habitats, even as the question remains of verifying independently the claim to such afforestation efforts.

The high level of disturbance activity inherent to mining has enabled ease of introducing exotic weeds, such as Lantana, Eupatorium & Parthenium. Also, the mining activity has encouraged growth of large and highly urbanised human settlements in the middle of the forests, causing irreparable damage to the local environment.