Centre drops proposal for uranium mining in T’gana forests amid stir

NEITHER THE STATE GOVT NOR THE STATE BOARD OF WILDLIFE HAD RECOMMENDED THE PROPOSAL

HYDERABAD: The Union ministry of environment and forests (MOEF) has withdrawn the proposal to allow Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMDER) to undertake survey and exploration of Uranium ore in Nallamala forest areas, following strong protests from locals and environmentalists, besides objections from the state government, state forest department officials said on Tuesday.

The decision, which came up for discussion at the meeting of Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) of the MOEF as an additional agenda item on August 16, was conveyed to the Telangana government last week, an official in the state forest department familiar with the development said.

According to the official, the proposal for exploration of Uranium mining in the Nallamala forests was considered by the FAC in its earlier meetings held on May 22, 2019 and also on April 23, 2020.

Subsequently, the FAC deferred the proposal seeking clarity in recommendation from the state government. The observations of the FAC were communicated to the state government, which replied that, neither the state board of wildlife nor the government has recommended the proposal.

“After thorough deliberation and discussions, the FAC recommends that the proposal may be closed, in absence of proper recommendation of the state government,” the FAC said.

In May 2019, the AMDER south central region at Hyderabad, a unit of the Department of Atomic Energy, sought permission to conduct survey and exploration for Uranium ore in the Nallamala forests and the FAC gave in-principle approval for the same in principle agreement in May.

The AMDER sought to drill 4,000 boreholes in the tiger reserve as part of survey for Uranium deposits. Within no time, environmentalists with the support of locals launched a Save Nallamala movement to build pressure on the government to drop the proposal.