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TN will reject tungsten mining in Madurai, says forest minister
Tamil Nadu has neither received any application from Hindustan Zinc Limited nor has the state granted permission for the company to mine tungsten in about 5,000 acres of land in Madurai district
Tamil Nadu has neither received any application from Hindustan Zinc Limited (HZL), a subsidiary of Vedanta, nor has the state granted permission for the company to mine tungsten in about 5,000 acres of land in Madurai district, the government said on Thursday.
However, HZL was given permission from the Union ministry of mines on November 7 for mining activities in Melur taluk in the district which is close to Arittapatti, which was notified as the first Biodiversity Heritage Site of Tamil Nadu in 2022, the state said.
Activists and villagers have been protesting from earlier this month against mining of tungsten in the ecologically sensitive zone. Arittapatti consisting of a chain of seven barren granite hillocks and the distinctive landscape of rocky hills acts as a watershed, supporting 72 lakes, 200 natural spring pools, and three check dams.
“We have not received any application seeking permission for mining tungsten,” Ponmudy said on Thursday at a press conference. “Even if we get any application, we will tell the Centre not to go ahead with the project. We will not allow any damage to the ecology…It was the DMK government that declared Arittapatti village as a Biodiversity Heritage Site in 2022. We will continue to protect the ecologically sensitive zone.”
DMK MP K Kanimozhi condemned the activities a day ago, recalling that Vedanta’s copper smelting plant in Thoothukudi–the Lok Sabha seat she represents–had to be shut due to environmental damage. “I strongly condemn the Union Government for permitting Vedanta-Hindustan Zinc to mine tungsten in Nayakkarpatti, Madurai,” Kanimozhi said on X. “This move ignores Vedanta’s history of environmental destruction and human suffering, as seen in Thoothukudi’s Sterlite tragedy. Tungsten mining risks devastating local ecosystems, displacing communities, and violating people’s rights. The government must respect the voices of the local people and revoke this decision immediately!”
Oon November 7, the Union ministry of mines said that Hindustan Zinc Limited had bagged the contract to mine tungsten in Nayakkarpatti tungsten block in Tamil Nadu and Balepalyam tungsten and associated mineral block in Andhra Pradesh.
