KASARGOD: In the light of protests leading to the stoppage of the public hearing in Kinalur village, the industries department has directed an extension of the mining lease to November 22. The Ashapura Minechem Limited said they would approach the High Court. District collector Jeevan Babu had reported that the Government poramboke land was allocated for mining without consulting the revenue department and the same had already been assigned for other government purposes. Also, public protests in the area have already led to the stoppage of mining of KCCPL, a public sector undertaking.
The government had granted mining lease to the firm over an area of 80.937 hectares of revenue poramboke land in the resurvey number 198 part of Kinalur village for 30 years subject to no objection certificate from district collector. However, the revenue department had proposed to cancel the lease when it was reported that the land was required for distribution under ‘Zero Landless Scheme’.
