We would like to put on record that open cast mining by KIOCL is inevitably damaging the ecology of the Kudremukh National Park and conclude as follows from our investigations :
1) KIOCL has been an irresponsible company and has damaged the environment of Kudremukh National Park. It is guilty of having violated several laws of the land which includes The Forest (Conservation) Act 1980, The Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972, The Environment (Protection) Act 1986, The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1978, The Explosives Act, 1872, The Karnataka Irrigation Act 1964. This has been possible because of the negligence and in some instances active connivance of the monitoring and the enforcement agencies, both at the Central and as well as the State level. Who have permitted KIOCL to continue their polluting activities despite the blatant violations of laws.
2) The Kudremukh National Park was notified because of its intrinsic biodiversity value as evidenced by various studies over the years.
3) NEERIs CEIA is also an irresponsible document because it has tried to cover up and supress many of the past and present misdemeanors of the company. As a national Institute NEERI has failed to put on record the numerous negative impacts caused due to mining in the Kudremukh National Park. The commercial interests of NEERI in attempting to attract more clients for its services has probably restrained it from giving a far more truthful version of the actual happenings in Kudremukh National Park.
Hence, we would like to reiterate that the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India and Department of Forest, Ecology and Environment, Government of Karnataka should not permit the continuation of mining in the National Park purely on commercial interests. They should also take into consideration the larger ecological consequences and also calculate the environmental burdens which the country will have to bear, which far outweighs the commercial benefits accruing only to the company.
Lastly, we would like to emphasize the point that mining cannot be permitted in a National Park and that the State Government or the Central Government should not bow to pressure from any quarter and delete the area leased to the company from the National Park. Such an act would be improper and injudicious and would defeat the very spirit and purpose behind framing the environmental laws.
As we are preparing the conclusion we were intimated, that a pocket has been created within the Kudremukh National Park by deletion of the mining lease area and the illegally submerged shola forest area by the Lakhya dam in the final notification of 16.06.2001 (Annexure 16). This has been done even after the Supreme Court interim order dated 13.12.2000 in WP 337/95 WWF Vs. Union of India pending further orders no de-reservation of forests, Sanctuaries, National Parks, shall be affected. Hence, can we construe the final notification of the Kudremukh National Park deleting the mining area, as one being in contempt of the Supreme Court directive ?