The people of the Dumbriguda mandal, Visakhapatnam, have emerged victorious in the battle over the China clay mining in their locality. District Collector J Shyamala Rao on Tuesday announced that the lease to mine China clay in the region has been cancelled.
He also stated that the tahsildar would be arrested if the No-Objection Certificate (NOC) given for China clay mining proves to be unlawful. He added that steps would be taken to ensure that a tahsildar's agreement alone will not be sufficient to pass an NOC, and that the permission of the district collector and other officials concerned will be made necessary.
He also clarified that the government would not permit any mining activities in the region if they were against the wishes and the interests of the girijans.
An MLA, speaking to media persons, stated that he intends to convene a meeting with Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy, to impress upon him the necessity of communicating with the local leaders before permitting any industrial activity with long-term impacts in the region.
The girijans of Dumbriguda mandal had earlier manhandled MLAs, and had taken out a rally on Monday to
protest against the proposed China clay mining in their region. Bowing to the pressure mounted by the sizeable dharna staged in front of the collectorate under the leadership of the heads of girijan welfare associations, the government withdrew the license given to a private company to mine China clay.