With Jayanthi Natarajan going out as the Union Minister of Environment and Forests (MoEF), stage is now almost set for the State-owned Odisha Mining Corporation’s (OMC) Daitari Iron Ore Mines to obtain forest clearance, said sources.
As Natarajan was not convinced on clearing the proposal, the file was left unattended for several months. With the Ministry delaying clearance of the OMC’s forest diversion proposal for Daitari Extension Area (Baliparbat Stockyard) for years, several steel industries encounter a dire situation due to acute shortage of raw materials, stated the sources.
State Government officials have been knocking at the doors of the MoEF for such clearance since 2011 but without any tangible results and production of iron ore in the Daitari Iron Ore Mines has gone down drastically.
With the restriction imposed since September 2011, production has gone down to 0.6 million tonnes per annum (MTPA). Once the MoEF grants clearance, production from this mine can immediately jump up to 3 MTPA, said an OMC official.
As the OMC is suffering due to the delay in receiving the clearance, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had also brought the matter to the notice of the Union Minister Environment and Forests. He harped on the issue as many steel plants in the State are substantially dependant on the Daitari Iron Ore Mines for raw material supply.
Interestingly, the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) at its meeting on August 12 and 13 this year has already recommended for forest clearance to this oldest as well as most important working mine of the OMC.