The iron ore city of South India, Bellary, has started feeling the heat of the Supreme Court order which suspended all mining operations in the district a week ago citing illegal exploitation, which has resulted in large-scale environmental degradation in the area. With the mining companies completely shutting down their activities, the iron and steel manufacturing plants are also slowly cutting down their production, sending shock waves among the workers.
The mining industry has been facing the heat ever since the state government banned exports in July 2010. The next blow came when mining operations in several companies were suspended based on a report submitted by Central Empowered Committee (CEC) to the Supreme Court.
?Many people have been thrown out of their jobs here,? said K Somasekar, president of Samayuktha Gani Karmikha Sangha (SGKS), a workers union attached to All India United Trade Union Centre. More than 10,000 people are working in the mines alone in the district, which has around 140 small and big mining companies of which 74 were actively operating.
The members attached to SGKS are working in the major mining firms like VS Lad Group, Mysore Minerals (MML), Vibuthi Mines, thimmappa Gudi Mines, Tiffnes Barytes and Aspestos Mines, Haraginadoni Iron and Red Oxide Mines and Janakunte Iron Ore Mines. ?We fear the companies may issue lay off notices in a week to their workers as the complete operations in these mines have stopped after the SC order,? he said.
Another major industry affected is the transportation segment. There are more than 18,000 lorries in Bellary district alone. But around 10,000 lorries were seized by the financiers after the state government banned exports last year as the transport operators could not remit their dues. Due to this, around 50,000 people have already lost their jobs in the past one year, said K Venkata Rao, President of Bellary District Transport Operators Association.
According to DS Rawat, secretary general of Assocham, any interruption in supply of iron ore to steel industry in Bellary region will result in jobs losses for 80,000 workers and several lakh others who are indirectly employed. He said the mines in Karnataka supply iron ore to several large steel plants like JSW Steel, Mukand, Tata Metalliks, Sathvahana Ispat, Kirloskar Ferrous, Kalyani Steel, Visveswaraya Iron and Steel which have set up their plants with huge investments.
T Srinivasa Rao, president of Karnataka Sponge Iron Manufacturers Association (KSIMA) said there around 70 sponge iron units in Karnataka, of which 55 units are operating in the Bellary region employing around one lakh people.
?Allotting mining leases to individual has led to several issues. The government should come with a frame work to allot mines only to the local industries as it would not lead to any illegal mining. KSIMA has filed a petition in the SC seeking for relief as they are suffering without iron ore,? he said.