Former minister B. Sreeramulu called off his fast for supply of iron ore to sponge iron manufacturing plants in the district after chief minister
D.V. Sadananda Gowda assured him on Monday that the problem would be resolved and invited him for talks on the issue .
He, however, warned that if no solution was found by Dasara, he would resume his hunger strike, which he went on Sunday in support of the
Karnataka Sponge Iron Manufacturers Associa-tion (Ksima).
Mr Sreemulu revealed he had received a call from the Chief Minister asking him to come with a delegation of Ksima members to a meeting with NMDC
officials after the Koppal byelection to discuss the crisis in the industry caused by the short supply of iron ore following the ban on mining in
the district and elsewhere in the state by the Supreme Court. “The CM assured me that the e-auctioning of the 25 million tones of seized iron ore
would be put off,” he said.
Ksima president Srinivas Rao said its members had withdrawn the trike temporarily, but would intensify the agitation if the government failed to
meet its demands.
Many in the mining industry ridicule the hunger strike by the former minister given the allegations of illegal mining against him and his close
assciates, the Reddy brothers.