Jharkhand paying heavy price for mineral resources

Jamshedpur : State Chief Minister Hemant Soren said mining has destroyed hills, rivers and cultivable land in the state. “There should be a debate in the country and in Jharkhand whether richness of mineral resources was a boon or a curse. Jharkhand has paid heavily for mining. The hills have been destroyed, rivers got polluted, lands have become barren,” he said.

He was referring to the Supreme Court recent decision on declaring 153 coal blocks as illegal.

Talking to the newsmen at the local Circuit House, Soren said: �We are going to write to the Union Government seeking review of Mining Policy. There should be a debate in the country and in Jharkhand on richness of mineral resources. Jharkhand has paid heavily for mining�.

SC ruled on Monday that the allocation of more than 200 coal blocks at the centre of a cronyism scandal was illegal. The Supreme Court is due to decide on Sept. 1 whether to cancel the allocations, or to impose some sort of penalty.

Soren also inaugurated the new building of the Commercial Tax Department, Jamshedpur and Adityapur division at Sakchi.

During the inauguration, he announced of giving sanction for exemption of two-wheelers from paying toll at Adityapur toll bridge, one time promotion for government department staff and twice-a-year India tour for state government employees.

The chief minister also announced that in view of long pending issue of vacancies in different department they have decided for giving one-time promotion to government employees.

Soren said that his Government will not allow the companies to shift to other states but will work to promote them to flourish here only. �We are working on a strategy to promote the industry. The department is working on sops to boost the sector. �We want to promote Jharkhand as the manufacturing hub. We want to move ahead with this vision,� noted Soren.

He also appealed to the industries to change their strategy and incorporate positive initiatives in their investment plan. Industry needs to make value addition to the raw minerals and absorb local people in job through skill development, he stated.