Karna accepts K'rangan report to stop mining, but not quarrying, sand mining

B D Narayankar reports

Bangalore, Apr 28 (PTI) Karnataka today said it has
accepted the Kasturirangan committee report on the Western
Ghats to stop mining but said it would not stop quarrying and
sand mining in the ecologically sensitive area.
     "We have accepted the recommendation to stop mining in
Western Ghats but disagreed to stop quarrying and sand mining
in the ecologically-sensitive Western Ghats," Law and
Parliamentary Affairs Minister T B Jayachandhra told reporters
here.
     He said the state cabinet had taken the decision as lack
of sand supply had already crippled developmental and
infrastructural activities across the state.
    The government is not against Kasturirangan report but
against demarcation of ecologically-sensitive areas in the
Western Ghats, the minister said.
    "Instead of including 1,580 villages in ecologically-
sensitive areas of the Western Ghats, the cabinet has decided
to include 850 villages," he said.
     The Kasturirangan Panel had recommended a ban on
development activities in 60,000 sq km ecologically-sensitive
area spread over six states of Gujarat, Karnataka,
Maharashtra, Goa, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
     Jayachandra said the state is confident of convincing the
Centre to delete those recommendations that would 'adversely'
affect the people.
     He also said the cabinet has decided to give Rs 40,000
assistance for one hectare to farmers who were hit by untimely
rains and hailstorms."The amount is more than what Maharashtra
government has announced, Rs 25,000 per hectare," he added.
    Asked why the government has decided to provide aid to
only one hectare, the minister said most farmers hold one to
two hectares of land.
    Government would utilise the fund released from National
Disaster Response Fund to compensate farmers and others who
had suffered crop and property loss due to hailstorm,he said.
     The hailstorm had damaged rabi crops, including wheat,
pulses, oilseeds and horticultural crops in over two lakh
hectares in Yadagir, Gulbarga, Bijapur, Bagalkot, Raichur,
Koppal, Tumkur and Chitradurga districts.
    The minister said government had submitted a memorandum to
a central study team, which toured the state in March, and
urged the Centre to calculate financial aid on the basis of
the extent of loss.