Chennai: The Narendra Modi-led central government’s decision to grant tungsten mining rights in Tamil Nadu’s Madurai district to Hindustan Zinc has become the latest flashpoint between the state’s DMK government and the local BJP unit, with both vying to get the decision rolled back and claim credit for it.
Amid protests against the mining lease on the ground, the Tamil Nadu Assembly Monday passed a resolution against the Centre’s move, while the state’s BJP unit simultaneously assured that there will be “good news” for the people of Madurai.
Hours before the assembly session began Monday, Tamil Nadu BJP president K. Annamalai stated on social media that the Centre was considering revoking its decision to award mining rights in an area spanning 20.16 sq km in Madurai’s Melur taluk. He said he had written to Union Minister of Mines G. Kishan Reddy to convey the local community’s concerns.
“The Tamil Nadu government’s failure to provide information on the dissent to the government of India led to the release of the tender to the successful bidder and the villagers have now requested the kind consideration of our central government for calling off this tender,” reads the letter dated 7 December that the BJP leader shared on X Monday.
The Ministry of Mines on 7 November announced that the Nayakkarpatti tungsten block had been auctioned to Hindustan Zinc, a subsidiary of Mumbai-based Vedanta, sparking widespread protests from locals.
Located in the north-eastern part of Madurai, the mining block covers villages including Kavattayampatty, Ettimangalam, Vallalapatty, Arittapatti, Kidaripatty and Narasingampatty.
Arittapatti was among the state’s first biodiversity heritage sites declared in November 2022.
Shanmugam Natarajan, a Madurai resident who is participating in the protest against the award of mining lease, told ThePrint: “Now, they have notified over 20.16 sq km. We are also hearing that the Centre will start mining more land. It will affect the livelihood of villagers who are mostly dependent on agriculture.”
He said that tungsten mining and exposure can adversely impact human health and the environment, adding that the protest had begun in November and was now seeing more active participation from all villagers.
Meanwhile, the DMK-led government in Tamil Nadu Monday adopted a unanimous resolution urging the central government to immediately revoke the tungsten mining rights granted to Hindustan Zinc. It also urged the Centre to not grant any mining licence without permission from state governments.
Moving the resolution, state water resources minister Duraimurugan said that it was highly condemnable that the central government had proceeded with the auction without permission from the Tamil Nadu government.
“The area was declared a bio-diversity heritage site by the government of Tamil Nadu in 2022 since it includes many historical monuments such as cave temples, Jain symbols and Tamil-Brahmi scripts and is a habitat for rare species. Despite pointing it out, the Union government granted the rights to carry out mining activities in the area,” he said.
However, during the discussion, BJP MLA Nainar Nagendran reiterated Annamalai’s charge that the state government should have brought the contentious issue to the Centre’s attention sooner, on which Chief Minister M.K. Stalin asked the MLA to clarify if his party supported the Centre’s decision or not.
“There will be good news for the people there,” Nagendran said in reply to him.
The state government’s move to adopt a resolution comes over a week after Stalin wrote to PM Modi seeking cancellation of the mining rights.
ThePrint reached Sanjay Lohiya, additional secretary in the Ministry of Mines, and V.L. Kantha Rao, secretary in the ministry, via phone calls and messages. This report will be updated if and when a response is received.
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‘No Oppn from Tamil Nadu govt’
One of the hardest metals with high-temperature resistance, tungsten has significant uses in the defence, medical and automobile industries. The mineral is part of the Indian government’s critical and strategic minerals category in the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2023, that allows the central government to exclusively auction mining leases and composite licences.
According to the ministry of mines, the contentious 20.16 sq km of land in Madurai was proposed for auction in February 2024 with inputs from the state government.
In a statement issued on 29 November, the ministry clarified that there was no communication or opposition from the Tamil Nadu government regarding the auction between February and 7 November, 2024.
The ministry said areas notified as biodiversity sites were not included in mining exploration and that guidelines of the ministry of environment would be followed while mining.
“According to the information available, out of the total area of 20.16 sq km, only 1.93 sq km within Aritapatti and Meenakshipuram villages has been notified as a biodiversity heritage site,” it said.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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