New Delhi:
The Andhra Pradesh government has ordered Janardhan Reddy's firm to stop all work at its mines in the Anantpur district. Last week, a panel set up by the Supreme Court reported that Reddy's firm is guilty of illegal mining in reserved forest areas.
Reddy, a mining baron from Bellary in Northern Karnataka, is Tourism Minister for Karnataka, but his family is originally from Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh. His brother, Karunakaran, is also in the Karnataka Cabinet.
Last month, the Reddy brothers brought the BJP government in their home state to the brink of disaster by leading a revolt against chief minister BS Yeddyurappa. It took days of public and national-level negotiations to smooth over the crisis in the state. The Reddy brothers got their way by forcing the chief minister to sack one of his protégés, and replace her with a candidate of their choice.
In Andhra, Opposition Leader Chandrababu Naidu has accused the Congress government of sheltering Reddy's mines. Naidu says this is because of alleged business links between Reddy and Jaganmohan, the son of YSR Reddy, who died in a helicopter crash in September. YSR's son has denied the charges. The current Congress chief minister, K Rosaiah, is keen to distance his government, and YSR's son, from the Reddy brothers.
The Supreme Court panel's report also slammed the Andhra government for originally stating that Reddy's mines did not violate their lease by operating in forest areas. The report says, ``the objectivity, fairness and impartiality which is expected from a state government is shockingly lacking here and does not inspire confidence. In these circumstances, it is imperative that the boundaries of the mining leases are determined and fixed by an independent agency and till then all the mining operations in the area remain suspended.''
The same committee has recommended that an independent team of experts survey the region to indicate permissible mining areas. Companies that are found to have violated the rules should be banned from operating here in the future.