Move to mine gold attracts AP devotees' ire

Hyderabad: The state government is in a unique fix. On the one hand, it seems to be sitting right on top of a gold reserve in Tamballepalle Assembly constituency in Chittoor district, on the other hand, it is unable to mine it or even conduct a survey in the area fearing backlash from people who trudge up the hills every year to a Shiva temple on top. If the proposal for mining is cleared, the temple would have to be pulled down, and devotees as well as local leaders are dead set against it.

With the government undecided, the proposal has been on hold for the last five years. According to official sources, Geomysore, a multinational company had applied and obtained prospecting licence to assess the gold deposits in an area of nine square kilometre (2500 hectares approx). But Tamballapalle TDP MLA Anipireddy Venkata Praveen Kumar Reddy objected to any kind of assessment saying that the area is a reserve forest. He asserted that if gold mining is allowed, the temple and the hill would be destroyed. Though officials say that a prospecting licence means that the company would use GIS and carry out searches through helicopter, the TDP MLA claims that the company has been granted permission to dig 20 bore-holes in the area.

Mines minister Galla Aruna Kumari, who also hails from the same district, is also said to be sympathetic to the devotees’ cause. Instead of clearing the file and sending it to the chief minister, she has sent it to the endowments department. The move will delay the project even more, which is what the minister reportedly wants.

Now the endowments department has been asked to assess if mining would affect the temple. But the Centre is getting impatient and has begun asking why the project has not been accorded permission even after five years. “The Centre wants to speed up the works. But, the file is still pending with the minister,” an official said.