The Congress party has decided to continue its fight against the proposed uranium ore mining in the Nallamala forest areas till even the plan for its exploration is scrapped.
Speaking to reporters here on Monday, secretaries of All India Congress Committee (AICC) Ch. Vamshichand Reddy and S.A. Sampath Kumar said a mere resolution in the Assembly won’t do but the State government should pursue the issue till the Centre stopped all its plans on the radioactive mineral’s exploration and mining.
They alleged that both Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and Minister for Industries K.T. Rama Rao were deceiving people with their lip service on the issue. Stating that there was no need for power generation with uranium in the country now, the Congress leaders said the renewable power, solar and wind, generation was huge at 30,000 MW now and it was expected to reach one-lakh MW by the end of 2022. Besides, the quality of uranium found in the country was also poor as per reports and the cost benefit ratio of its mining was also very high.
Radioactive mineral
Instead of mining the highly radioactive mineral at a huge cost it could be imported as it was available at ₹1,300 per kg against ₹1 lakh in the past, they pointed out. They demanded that the State government should not even allow exploration of the mineral and the Chief Minister should chair the State Wild Life Board meeting immediately to scrap the approval given for exploration.
Speaking on the same issue at the media point in the Assembly, Minister V. Srinivas Goud and TRS MLAs G. Balaraju and V.M. Abraham said the Chief Minister had already made the government as also TRS stand amply clear on uranium ore mining. They alleged that it was the previous Congress government that had given permission for exploration and the present BJP government at the Centre was going ahead with exploration.
‘Not to allow’
They thanked the Chief Minister for introducing a resolution in the Assembly against uranium ore exploration and the House adopting it unanimously. They stated that along with tribal communities in the Nallamala, the TRS would not allow anybody even to cut a tree branch for the purpose. Mr. Balaraju said he would quit as a legislator and would be ready for any sacrifice if uranium ore mining was taken up.
Meanwhile, Nagarkurnool MP P. Ramulu thanked the Chief Minister on behalf of the people of combined Mahabubnagar district for adopting a resolution against uranium ore mining in the Assembly. He met Minister Mr. Rama Rao on the issue and said he would raise the issue in Parliament.