Ballari shrines in danger as state clears auction of C category iron mines

Of the total 51 category ‘C’ mines in the state, which have been cancelled by the apex court in April 2012 for gross illegalities, the government has identified 15 mines for competitive auctioning in the first phase having explored the extent of iron ore deposits in those mines. The government has made clear its readiness to begin the auction process before the apex court after obtaining its approval for the modalities of the auction. However, the state government appears to have forgotten the direction issued by the apex court while permitting mining in the vicinity of ancient temples and monuments. Mines such as M/s Hothur Traders, M/s Deccan Mining Syndicate and M/s Karthikeshwar Mining and Iron Ore Company, Pvt. Ltd which have been identified for auction are located in the close vicinity of the ASI protected ancient temples of Kumaraswamy and Parvathi in Sandur taluk. Apart from category ‘C’ mines, state-owned Mysore Minerals Ltd operated Harishankara Iron Ore Mines, NMDC operated Kumaraswamy Iron Ore Mines are located in the vicinity of Kumaraswamy and Harishankara temple.

Indeed, after hearing a PIL on July 1, 2013, the Supreme Court directed the State Government to stop mining in 1 km radius of the ancient monuments in the state to conserve it. However, the ancient temples of Kumaraswamy and Parvathi in Sandur taluk are now facing a threat from mining. Earlier, apprehending a threat to the protected monuments, the ASI had on February 25, 2005 written to the Director of Mines and Geology to stop blasting operations in the vicinity of the two temples. But mining continued unabated there. The letter stated that a representation had been received from the secretary of Sri Kumaraswamy Devasthan, Sandur, explaining the problems being faced due to the deep-hole blasting. Since the temple is more than 800 years old, the vibrations caused by the blasting could damage the monument, the secretary had said. “The stucco designs, which are fragile and fixed to the stone, are getting damaged due to continuous vibrations,” a letter from the then Superintending Archaeologist had stated. The director had been asked to cancel the license of mining companies in the area and not to grant permission for mining in a two-km area around the two temples.

After hearing a PIL filed by Hosapete advocate K. Guruprasad Rao for protecting Sri Jambunatheshwara temple near Hosapete, a bench comprising Justice G.S. Singhvi and Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai in July, 2013 not only prohibited mining in 1 km radius of the Vijayanagar era temple but also directed the committee it had appointed to assess the threat from mining. Besides, the court asked for a report on damage caused to monuments by mining, to be submitted to the state government within nine months.