KARWAR : The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board has directed the Belekeri Port authorities here to close down the port for ore traffic if they cannot restrict the ore lorries as well as the several irregularities in the port. The Board has also warned of legal action if its directive was not taken seriously. As of now, the Belekeri port is free from ore export activities and in the wake of the KPSCB mandate, there are even doubts over the recommencement of the ore export from here after the monsoons.
Already, the Board has hinted of initiating criminal proceedings against the port director if he permitted ore business of those port users who have violated rules in Belekeri. It has even issued a similar warning to the handling companies that export ore.
It is learnt, the Board held a meeting with the officials of the three companies which use the port for ore exportation and has warned them against indulging in irregularities. Even the port director was present at the meeting held on May 3 and 4.
The Belekeri port has been identified as a minor port in the year 1976. It was in the year 2003 that the port land was allotted to three companies for ore business. But allotment of additional land in the year 2006 gave rise to all the problems as these companies namely Adani Enterprises, Mallikarjuna Shipping and Salagaonkar Mining began storing ore in the additional land and exporting them without securing the requisite clearance from the Environment Department, CRZ and Union Ministry of Forests. Surprisingly, the port authorities too had turned a blind eye to this and the result was evident in the widespread pollution of water and air in the locality.
If rules permitted a maximum of 1000 lorries, the port authorities permitted as many as 6000 ore lorries to transport ore, resulting in traffic congestion.
Since September 2006 to May 2010, as many as 70 innocent lives have been claimed by these ore lorries. The lorries disrupted normal life right from Belekeri to Yellapur apart from causing noise pollution.
Now the State Pollution Control Board has issued strict instructions to the ore companies to secure all permits required before ore export and transportation and has also directed the port authorities to see that rules are adhered to.
It is a welcome sign on the part of the Pollution Control Board to rise to the occasion and noose the ore companies that have wreaked havoc in the region. It is now only left to be seen as to how far the directives would be adhered to.
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