The Andhra Pradesh government is caught up between devil and deep sea. With many of the plans meant for mobilizing funds for his dream project Amaravati having gone hay wire, Naidu wants cabinet discuss the Bauxite mining issue and go ahead on the project. Naidu’s plan is to harness the mineral to generate revenue for the capital Amaravati construction project.
The state cabinet is meeting on November 16 and discuss the strategy to take forward the bauxite mining issue. Naidu can’t afford to lose huge revenue the bauxite mining promising and at the same the issue is going to be a weapon in the hands of opposition parties and the environmentalists. The controversy is arising because of Naidu’s aggressive campaign against mining when YSR signed MoU with Jindal South West and ANRAK.
Naidu had banked on three sources to mobilize funds for Capital construction: 1. Central liberal assistance 2. Auctioning of red Sanders and 3. Bauxite revenue. While the centre is not in a position to give one lakh crore , the Red Sanders auctioning failed to yield expected results. With Tamil Nadu not willing to cooperate with AP officials, the smuggling of Red Sanders has been going on without abatement, despite the gunning down of 21 wood cutters. So, the three auctions taken up in November 2014, February and October 2015 fell below the expectations. “Since the smuggled res sanders is freely available in international marked at rates cheaper than the ones quoted by Andhra Pradesh, no buyer from China and Japan is looking towards Andhra Pradesh. Unless the smuggling is checked, auctions in Andhra Pradesh would not pick up,” said a senior official in department of environment and forests. As the illegal felling of trees fetches good remuneration, Tamil Nadu workers are not deterred by the stringent actions being taken by the Andhra Pradesh, he said.
The only source left is the bauxite mining. As the world’s leader in the bauxite deposits, Naidu wants to exploit the mineral to the hilt to get additional revenue needed for the Amaravati construction.
But, the opposition parties are dead set against the project. So are the Maoists. All these forces, according to a senior TDP leader, are creating roadblocks for bauxite mining.
So, the cabinet is meeting on November 16 to discuss the GO No.97 which was responsible for the ongoing agitation in the Agency Area.
According to state HRD minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao the Government has every concern for the welfare of Adivasis and would not override their opposition while going ahead on the project.Admitting that he did fight against bauxite mining last time, Ganta said the Centre had cleared the (environmental) proposal in a fast track mode and the GO was issued.
However, in the volatile situation, the cabinet wants to take a decision whether to go ahead on the project or wait for some time. Sources in the government told ‘telugu360.com’ that the CM may not abandon the project. He would employ strategies to foruce the tribals come around the way he did in case of the farmers in Amaravati region.
