Panel makes aerial survey of bauxite mining

Despite people's opposition and agency bandh, the high-powered committee of the Union ministry of environment and forests on bauxite mining conducted an aerial survey of Jerrela and surrounding areas on Wednesday.

The district administration had tried to keep the committee's visit a secret by not divulging its schedule.

However, the committee took a chopper from the Vizag airport for the survey. The second day of the 48-hour bandh call given by all the parties in the agency was successful as all public and private transport were off the road . schools, shops and other establishments remained closed for the second consecutive day on Wednesday.

Irked by the district administration's plan to deploy the chopper for the convenience of committee members, the activists of Girijana Sangham burnt the effigy of district collector Luv Agarwal. At Araku and Paderu, the activists had conducted vanta-vaarpu on the roads.

The committee include chairman J C Kala, TCRTI former director V L V K Sastry, former principal CCF Kamal Naidu and APMDC MD Mukesh Kumar Meena, district collector Luv Agarwal. Additional CCF N Prateep Kumar and Narsipatnam DFO Rammohan Rao visited the hills in two batches in a five-seater chopper.

Hundreds of tribals with sickles and sticks gathered at Jerrela led by former MLA G Demudu to obstruct the committee from landing there.

But the chopper hovered over the area for some time and returned. The committee will hold a meeting with tribal leaders, political parties and NGOs to get their views on bauxite mining in agency areas.