Give Priority to Environment

By Ajay Vaishnav

Indian environment minister Jairam Ramesh's decision to impose a blanket ban on mining in 'no-go' areas is welcome. It makes sense to push for a complete ban in mining in 'no-go' areas, which is just 35% of the forests under purview. A skewed mining policy allows states vast discretionary powers in allocation of contracts, which has led to rampant illegal mining and blatant encroachments in reserved forests. The reluctance of many states in implementing much-touted safeguards like monitoring and compensatory afforestation is obvious. Cases like the illegal mining reported in Karnataka expose the hollowness of eco-friendly rhetoric by state governments. In that context, it's a relief that someone's there to crack the whip.
It is unfortunate that some view Ramesh's pro-environment stance through the grid of development alone. Such an opposition fails to recognise the urgent need to arrest environmental degradation, which is frequently irreversible. If corporations indulge in unabashed loot and state governments play footsie with them, it's incumbent on the Union ministry of environment and forests to lay down a line in the sand by declaring environmentally sensitive zones to be no-go areas. Corporations and state governments cannot be trusted to clean up afterwards, once you let them in. It's all very well to talk about a golden mean, but let the message sink in first that environmental destruction must be prevented at all costs.
And even if mining companies go into ecologically sensitive zones with the best of intentions, sometimes the damage done to the environment and bio-diversity is irreversible. Not to mention that burning the coal which gets mined will further pollute the air and add to the greenhouse gases that are causing the planet to warm up. More expensive coal will spur the search for greener energy sources.
Courtesy: The Times of India