Political patronage helps illegal mining: Ramesh

New Delhi: The alleged murder of IPS officer Narendra Kumar in Madhya Pradesh has put the spotlight on illegal mining yet again. Not mincing words, Jairam Ramesh, part of Group of Ministers headed by Pranab Mukherjee that approved the draft mining bill says, "You cannot have illegal mining without political patronage". But, it is just not illegal mining. In an interview with CNN-IBN's Rupashree Nanda, the minister said we have to worry about legal mining also.

Transcript of Jairam Ramesh's interview with CNN-IBN's Rupashree Nanda:

Rupashree Nanda: Do you believe that illegal mining has political patronage?

Jairam Ramesh: Undoubtedly. You cannot have illegal mining without political patronage. When I was minister for environment and forest I saw this in Uttarakhand, I saw it in Goa, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand. So no where does illegal mining flourish without political patronage.

The other point I want to make is everybody is worried about illegal mining. But, we should also be worried about legal mining because even where mining is taking place legally, it has disastrous environmental consequences. It's had highly damaging social impacts. I think we need to relook at the whole mining sector - Coal mining, Iron ore mining, Bauxite mining, Uranium mining because not only are we destroying the environment irretrievably we are also not able to give the benefits of mining to the local communities. The new bill that is there with the standing committee, the minerals bill has great importance.

Rupashree Nanda: Illegal mining can lead to spurt in Naxalism?

Jairam Ramesh: Whether it is legal or illegal is immaterial. There were parts of Jharkhand which were peaceful and suddenly big mining activities begin- Pakur district is a classic example where now big coal mines have opened up and now Maoists have moved in. Because Maoists are not ideologues, they are also extortionists - so when they see mining they see an opportunity for extortion. I think it is very important to recognise that our mining operating practices have not only to be environmentally friendly but also socially stabilising. Neither private nor public sector have a good track record.

Rupashree Nanda: If illegal mining thrives on political patronage, do you think it can be curbed at all?

Jairam Ramesh: Yes. Strong action can be taken. We took strong action in Uttarakhand. Strong action was taken in Goa. We put a moratorium in Goa, part of Sindhudurg in Ratnagiri in Maharashtra.