The State government has categorically said that it is not in favour of granting permission for uranium mining in the Nallamala forest of Amrabad in Nagarkurnool district.
Denying permission, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao instructed officials during his detailed reply to the general discussion on budget on Sunday to draft a single-line resolution opposing uranium mining in the forest. Mr. Rao asked Chief Secretary S. K. Joshi to prepare the resolution so that it could be passed and sent to the Centre in a day or two.
Mr. Rao said the government had not accorded permission for uranium mining and it was not willing to do so in future too. The areas under the Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar projects would be adversely affected by uranium mining. This would in turn affect the delta region of neighbouring Andhra Pradesh. “Drinking water supply to the twin cities dependent on Nagarjunasagar will also be affected,” the Chief Minister said.
He said in the event of the Central government trying to push through the project, the State was prepared to fight with the Centre against any such decision. Recalling that the Congress government had in the past given permission for taking up prospecting works in Kadapa and Nalgonda districts of the united AP, he appealed to all political parties to join hands with the government in opposing the project.
‘Manufactured movement’
Earlier in the Legislative Council, Industries Minister K.T. Rama Rao said the State Forest Department had rejected permission for mining uranium in the Nallamala forest in 2016.
Mr. Rao charged that some political parties were manufacturing a movement when there was no permission for mining at all and the media too were falling into their trap. He asked the opposition parties to act with some responsibility given the sensitivity attached to the issue.
KTR claimed that it was the Congress government which gave the permission for mining uranium in 2009 itself and the Central Government’s Atomic Minerals Division and Department of Atomic Energy were exploring the possibility. He said the Central government agencies did not need permissions for their work and even if they were successful, the State government would not grant permission for mining.
He said it was because of the Chief Minister’s love for nature and forests that he had initiated the Haritha Haaram afforestation programme.
