Karnataka’s BJP-led B.S. Yeddyurappa government, under siege following the resignation of Lokayukta Santosh Hegde, has transferred yet another forest official, Ankola’s assistant conservator Narendra Hittalamakki, who was investigating the disappearance of five lakh tonnes of iron ore worth $50 million from Belekeri port in Karnataka, impounded en route from Bellary, the state’s mining belt. The state government had earlier sought to suspend deputy conservator of forests R. Gokul, who was supervising investigations into the disappearance of the illegal iron ore from Belekeri port.
The speed with which key officials tasked with the investigation are being transferred could be the handiwork of powerful elements within the Karnataka government seeking to shield a powerful mining lobby plundering a key resource that belongs to the state and the nation. This is particularly shameful given the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on the matter. While Justice Hegde had trained his guns on the Bellary-based Reddy brothers, ministers in the Yeddyurappa government who enjoy the patronage of senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj, there is, as yet, no proof of their involvement. Indeed, the mine barons of Bellary are drawn from every political persuasion. But of this there can be no question — nowhere in the world is a country’s natural resource given away as freely as in India.
The issue of illegal iron ore mining in Karnataka has been simmering for nearly a year. Justice Hegde had submitted a 2,000-page report last year detailing the extent of the illegal mining, and the matter is being pursued by a host of Central agencies, including the CBI, DRI, Survey of India, Bureau of Mines, the customs department and the environment and forests ministry. All eyes are now on the Election Commission, which has asked the Karnataka government why it dropped charges against the Reddy brothers and to examine if they should be disqualified as ministers as their involvement in the mining business is a case of conflict of interest. That deal was reached when the Yeddyurappa government agreed to look the other way in a bid to buy peace when the Reddys mounted their November putsch.
With this increased public scrutiny, can the state continue to look the other way? Illegal mining is a hugely lucrative business. The global price of iron ore has gone up from $18 a tonne to around $100-130 a tonne. One can imagine the size of the loot of five lakh tonnes of iron ore that is smuggled out. This is where the clout of the mining lobby comes from. Karnataka is the biggest exporter of iron ore in India — 35 million tonnes a year, which goes primarily to China and Japan. Goa comes second: ironically, in that state, where the BJP is in Opposition, its leader is accusing the Congress of benefiting from the 100 new licences given for mining manganese and iron ore, in addition to the 110 mining leases already in existence. It has been alleged that a particular state minister has cornered six of these licences.
Several politicians and public figures across the country, including Union home minister P. Chidambaram, have called on Justice Hegde to withdraw his resignation and continue his campaign for good governance in Karnataka. While the Yeddyurappa government would like the issue to simply fade away, that is now easier said than done. The state government shifting an investigating officer even after the furore over Justice Hegde’s resignation does not augur well for the state or the country. It is a pointer to the triumph of corruption and the plunder of national resources.