WILDLIFE FIRST CAMPAIGNS

Kudremukh mining successfully challenged

	The devastating mine in the Kudremukh  just   above the river Bhadra river that causes severe   siltation

In a landmark judgement, the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India has upheld the sanctity of Kudremukh National Park by rejecting the Kudremukh Iron Ore Company’s plea to mine at Kudremukh for another 20 years but allowed it to continue only till the end of 2005; subject to fulfillment of recommendations made by the Central Empowered Committee on ecological and other aspects. The court has also clearly held that the exclusion of the company’s land (37 sq kms) while issuing the final notification of the Kudremukh National Park was not in order though the same was being used for mining and further, has rejected the company’s plea that compliance of Section 2 of the Forest Conservation Act is not required in case of renewal of a mining lease.   

This judgement delivered by a three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice of India B.N.Kirpal, Justice Y.K.Sabharwal and Justice Arijit Pasayat  is now recognized as a historic milestone in protecting seriously depleted wildlife habitats and water resources of the country.  This was in response to an Interlocutory Application –IA 670 in WP 202 filed by KM Chinnappa, Trustee, Wildlife First through Amicus Curiae Harish Salve who brilliantly argued the matter. 

The Hon’ble court has also directed that modalities to be adopted to ‘effectuate’ the order  and the recommendations of the committee shall be worked out by the Ministry of Environment and Forest, the State Government, and the company under the supervision, guidance and monitoring of the committee. The court has further directed that cases initiated against the company for alleged violation of various statutes shall be considered by the respective forums/courts in their proper perspective, uninfluenced by any observation made in the judgment.  

Bangalore-based Wildlife First had, in association with P.K. Manohar of Legal Action for Wildlife and Environment (LAW-E), challenged the continuation of open cast mining by the giant public sector corporation in the National Park, resulting in destruction of wildlife as well as heavy silt loads in the Bhadra river system on which millions of farmers are dependent for their livelihood.

The campaign against mining in these rich tropical rainforests, located in one of world’s top 25 biodiversity hotspots was initiated as far back as 1984, through a wildlife survey by WCS scientist Ullas Karanth who detected significant populations of globally-threatened lion-tailed macaque in Kudremukh, leading to the notification of the National Park by the Government of Karnataka in 1987. 

In a sustained campaign spanning over a decade to get the Kudremukh National Park legally notified, Wildlife First had actively networked with several wildlife groups like Kudremukh Wildlife Foundation, Nature Conservation Guild, Arohana, WILDCAT-C Green Watchers… This campaign, centered around a powerful documentary “Mindless Mining” made by noted wildlife film-maker Shekar Dattatri, had attracted many activists and intellectuals to this critical issue during the last one year. Several prominent public personalities like the religious Seers of Pejawar, Sringeri, Dharmastala, Adichunchungiri, Siddaganga and Sirigere Maths, naturalist- writer Poornachandra Tejasvi and social worker H. Sudarshan also played a key role in convincing the Government of Karnataka to notify Kudremukh National Park and withdraw support to the mining company. 

The pro-wildlife campaign backed by solid scientific data on ecological destruction including the sedimentation study by Jagdish Krishnaswamy also played a key role in shaping public and official opinion, finally resulting in the State Government taking a sensible decision to terminate the mining lease within 5 years, despite the Union Government’s eventually failed efforts to keep the mining operations afloat for 20 more years.  

Even as some social activists question the utility of National Parks, this landmark wildlife case upholds the critical necessity of National Parks for human welfare and to keep unbridled development driven by commercial greed away from critical natural ecosystems which constitute a mere one percent of India’s landscape.