Praveen Bhargav, administrator of the NGO Wildlife First, has written to senior officials of the Karnataka Forest Department urging them to reject a proposal by Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited (KIOCL) seeking subsequent deforestation for illegally submerging forest land in Kudremukh.
In his letter to senior officials, Mr. Bhargav said it was shocking to know that the proposal was being considered instead of being rejected at the outset. Referring to the comments of the Conservator of Forests (Mangaluru) on the issue, he said that ex-post factual accounting should not be contemplated. “The Supreme Court has clearly ruled in the judgment in the Lafarge case that ex-post facto permits are not permissible. There is no room for consideration of the proposal,” he said. Illegal raising of Lakya Dam has destroyed the natural habitat in Kudremukh National Park. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India in its 2003 report put the environmental loss at ₹115.86 million, he noted.
Mr. Bhargav demanded that the government reject KIOCL’s proposal, ensure refund of ₹139.15 million fine, include 1,401 hectares of government land as part of Kudremukh National Park, withdraw the right-of-way granted to KIOCL to maintain the slurry pipeline and also initiate the process of acquisition of 114.3 hectares of land acquired by KIOCLIA.BD National Park.
Mr Bhargav wrote to Additional Chief Secretary (Forests, Ecology and Environment) Anjum Parvez, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Head of Forest Force Meenakshi Negi, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief Wildlife Warden PC Ray and Principal Principal Conservator of Forests (Conservation of Forests) Shir Mahuresh B.
KIOCL, a Government of India enterprise established in 1976, has set up a plant at Kudremukh to produce 7.5 million tonnes of iron ore per annum. It built a dam across the Lakya to store tailings from its plant. The dam was built in two stages (1979 and 1994) and its height was increased to 100 meters. The tailings were stored in the dam until 2005, when mining was stopped based on a decision of the Supreme Court in 2002. The company did not clear the forest for the construction of the dam. In 2022, she asked to cut down the forest.
Published – 23 Dec 2025 18:58 IST
