30-year lease in 1969,

for 3703 hectares of

forest land in the
western ghats of to
extract iron ore,
entirely meant for
export.

On 25 July 1999 the lease

ended, but operations did
not. Functioning under a
temporary working
permission granted by
the MoEF .

THE NEED FOR PRESERVATION OF

BIODIVERSITY WAS RECOGNIZED AS AN
INTERNATIONAL AND NATIONAL
DEVELOPMENTAL PRIORITY, OVER THE
TRADITIONAL CONCERNS OF ECONOMIC
GROWTH AND EQUITY.
THE ECO-SYSTEM SERVICES VALUE OF A
MOUNTAINOUS FORESTED AREA LIKE
KUDREMUKH FOR WATERSHED PROTECTION
WAS WELL-RECOGNIZED BY FORESTRY AND
WILDLIFE SCIENCES AND THE LAWS
ALREADY IN PLACE.

THIS EXPORT-LED IRON

ORE MINING WAS JUMPSTARTED IN KUDREMUKH
DURING THE EMERGENCY
(1974-76), WHICH
SUPPRESSED NORMAL
DEMOCRATIC AVENUES FOR
QUESTIONING THE
DECISION.

KUDREMUKH SITE FORMS

THE LARGEST BLOCK OF
BIODIVERSITY-RICH
TROPICAL RAINFORESTS IN
THE WESTERN GHATS AND
IT PLAYS A CRUCIAL
WATERSHED ROLE FOR
MAJOR RIVERS
ORIGINATING IN THIS
STEEP TERRAIN WITH A
RAIN-FALL EXCEEDING
7,000 MM PER YEAR.
THESE ECOLOGICAL
FACTORS WERE SIMPLY
NOT CONSIDERED IN THE
INITIAL DECISION TO SITE
THE MINE AT
MALLESWARA.

THE BORDER ROADS ORGANIZATION CARVED OUT THE HIGHWAY TO

MANGALORE THROUGH VIRTUALLY UNTOUCHED WILDERNESS CAUSED
IMMENSE DAMAGE TO FOREST HABITAT.
THESE VIOLATIONS INCLUDED INCREASING THE HEIGHT OF LAKYA DAM
BY 35 METERS LEADING TO SUBMERGENCE OF A NATIONAL PARK AREA
OF 340 HECTARES.

ILLEGAL FORMATION OF ROADS WHILE PROSPECTING IN 1994-95.

ILLEGAL ROAD FORMATION FOR REPAIRING THE SLURRY PIPE LINE IN

2000.
AFTER THE MINE CLOSURE IN 2005, DIVERSION OF WATER FROM LAKYA DAM
TO MANGALORE VIA THE SLURRY PIPELINE IN CONTRAVENTION OF LAWS
PREVENTING INTRA-BASIN TRANSFER OF RIVER WATERS.

REMOTE
SENSING
IMAGERY
HAD
ALSO
SHOWN THAT IN THE
PERIOD BETWEEN 1999
AND 2002, AFTER THE
LEASE
HAD
EXPIRED,
KIOCL HAD OPENED UP A
FURTHER 56 HECTARES OF
LAND
IN
TOTAL
CONTRAVENTION
OF
EXISTING LAWS.

THE
NOTIFICATION OF
THE 600 SQ KM
KUDREMUKH
NATIONAL PARK
IN 1987 AROUND
THE 48 SQ KM
MINING
LEASE
AREA,
WAS
OBVIOUS THAT
ITS LEASE EXTN
BEYOND
1999
WAS ILLOGICAL.

 Integrated Steel Plant in the State of

Karnataka with initial capacity of 1.5
mpta and expandable to 5 mtpa with
equity participation.
Hombalaghatta and Hosahalli
Mining Lease
Mine Developer-Cum-Operator
Solar Power Generation
Tourism

 Here is just one example of how the compensatory

afforestation approach ends up not just being a
greenwash, but an ecological disaster as well. From 1980 to
2005, the Kudremukh Iron Ore Company
Limited (KIOCL) strip-mined hill slopes clothed in virgin
rainforests in the heart of Karnatakas
Kudremukh National Park. Besides the horrendous damage to
the fragile ecosystem, over 150 million
tonnes of tailings the waste mud left over after extraction of
low grade ore were dumped into a
pristine, 100-metre-deep, forested valley. To compensate for
this loss of natural habitat, KIOCL went
on a massive compensatory afforestation spree, planting
millions of trees.

 The problem with this was

twofold: the trees were non-native species with
zero biodiversity value; and they were planted on
adjoining areas of natural grassland, which are an
extremely important component of the Bhadra
Rivers watershed. Thus, apart from the forested
hill slopes and the valley that were destroyed by
mining activities, a third natural habitat, in the
form of ecologically important grasslands, was
destroyed through mindless tree planting.

 It conducted prospect work at Nellibeedu for $10

million without a proper approval. It also
constructed 40 kms of new roads. It increased
the height of the Lakya Dam without approval (in
1994).This led to the submersion of 340 hectares
of dense forests. It violated the condition of not
breaking into new forest areas when the
temporary extension was granted in 1999 (proven
to be overshot by 58 hectares). Bursting of the
slurry pipe resulted in scattering of a large
amount of slurry and extensive damage.

 It believed that renewal of the license was

obligatory
on the part of the government. Hence, it
even went
ahead with a project to replace slurry
pipelines costing
$40 million.
It made infrastructure-related investments
even before
licenses were given.

 No Future Plans
KIOCL completely relied on the Kudremukh
mine. All
technology and infrastructure were based on
magnetite
ore only rather than the more abundantly
available
haematite ore. Hence, the organization was
unable to procure
raw materials from other sites.

Environmentalists are up in arms over Kudremukh

Iron Ore Company Limiteds (KIOCL) plans to
throw open its closed mining areas and residential
quarters to tourism. The company has invited
expression of interest for the proposal on its
website dated April 7, 2014.
The annual capacity of the Pellet Plant is to
produce 3.5 million tonnes of Pellets and that of
Blast Furnace unit is to produce 2.16 lakh tonnes
of foundry grade Pig Iron.