Valuable reserves of granite in Bastar region with its market value pegged at around Rs13,563 crore may get submerged by the Pollavaram dam construction, a report prepared by Chhattisgarh Directorate of Geology and Mining has mentioned.
According to “A report on Geology and Mineral Wealth around Submergence Area of proposed Inter-state Pollavaram Dam,” prepared by the Geology and Mining Department, Chhattisgarh, the proposed inter-state dam on Godavari River in west Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh will submerge as many as 18 villages of Chhattisgarh.
It further mentioned that the area which would come under submergence is endowed with rich mineral wealth including black granite and coloured granite suitable for dimension stone.
The granite of the village Injaram, Mulakisoli, Rajpenta, Errabore etc. are particularly of very good quality. As per the list of pending applications at District Mining Office, Dantewada, the area of black granite in four villages is spread over an area of approx 325 acres, it mentioned.
At Mulakisoli village 7,50,000 sqmt of granite with thickens considered around 3 meters, estimated reserve of 22,50,000 cubic meters worth Rs3365 crores have been detected, the report mentioned.
likewise, at Injaram 3,00,000 sqmt of granite around 3 meter thick, estimated reserve of 9,00,000 cubic meter is worth Rs1350 crore. In the same way, at Rajpenta village 8,80,000 sqmt of granite about 3 meters deep, estimated reserve of 26,40,000 cubic meters worth Rs3,960 crore is present. At Errabore 9,00,000 sqmt granite about 3 meters deep with estimated reserve of 27,00,000 cubic meter all worth Rs4,050 crore is present.
According to the report, value of this raw black granite (at prevailing market price of Rs15,000 per cubic meter) is approximately Rs12,735 crore. Similarly at Banda village about 2,30,000 square meters of coloured granite about 3 meters thick, estimated reserve of about 6,90,000 cubic meters has also been detected.
The worth of this raw coloured granite (at prevailing market price of Rs12,000 per cubic meter) is approximately Rs828 crore. Thus, value of inferred reserve of granite of Rs13,563 crore will come under submergence of Pollavaram dam.
This information is based on the data provided by Mining Section, Dantewada, it stated.
The report further says that it is preliminary information considering 10 percent recovery. The value of inferred reserve of granite comes around Rs1356 crore. Apart from granite, sapphire, quartz and semi-precious stones etc. have also been reported from the area for which detail work has not been carried out.
The report has been forwarded to Chhattisgarh Water Resources Department (WRD). When contacted WRD Engineer-in-Chief HR Kutare said ‘the final report is being prepared and hence would not be able to comment on the issue.’