Tailings dump on the banks of Shankhani-Dankni has become a headache for the city residents.
Tailings dump on the banks of Shankhani-Dankni has become a headache for the city residents.
Pankaj Bhadauria-Dantewada. In Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh, once again the work of continuously dumping the tailings (iron and waste) coming out of Bailadila mines at the confluence of Shankhani-Dankini river, a symbol of folk faith, flowing in front of Danteshwari temple, has been going on since a month. being done. For which, day and night, heavy vehicles are crossing the no entry zone inside the city and putting them into the mouth of the river in 12 wheeler highway vehicles from the Kirandul plant.
The waste material coming out of the mine is being dumped on the river bank inside Dantewada city by the transport contractor. Even a year ago, tailings were being dumped here. But environmentalist Nitin Singhvi had lodged an objection regarding this and had approached the Honorable High Court regarding the matter. After this the administration had banned it. Now, after a year, the work of tailings dump has been started here again. And once again Nitin Singhvi has lodged an objection with the government regarding this. He has written a letter to the government demanding an immediate ban on this. After Mr. Singhvi’s letter, Biodiversity Board Chhattisgarh has sought a reply from DFO Dantewada.
When space was not available in rural areas, the game of dump started in cities.
Earlier, tailings were being thrown in the villages around Bailadila. Due to this red poison, the crops of the villagers and the dumb animals got trapped in its swamp and were dying. After which the villagers strongly opposed this red soil. This protest took the form of a big movement in Kundeli village. The company was forced to stop work and started dumping red soil towards the urban area Dantewada. There was strong protest against the tailings dump in Kumharras also and the contractor’s staff had to run away to save their lives. According to the villagers, the fertility of the soil starts eroding where tailings is dumped. This is the main reason for the villagers’ protest. Villagers in Karli 9th Battalion also opposed this. But due to pressure from the administration, this red poison was dumped on a large scale here too.
Biodiversity Board sought information from DFO
Chhattisgarh Biodiversity Board has sought information in this regard through a letter from DFO Dantewada last month. On the objection of environmentalist Nitin Singhvi, the board has written a letter to DFO Dantewada on 23 November asking him to inform about the situation within ten days. However, even after 15 days, Forest Department Dantewada has not sent any information to the government. DFO said that SDO Naidu is looking into the matter and a reply to the letter will be sent in a few days.
