Centre to give security cover for SAIL's Chhattisgarh mining project

NEW DELHI: The Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) will start work in December on development of its new iron-ore feeder mine in Rowghat, located in Naxal-infested Kanker region of Chhattisgarh, including construction of a rail link for transporting the ore to Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP). These works are to be taken under a security cover to be provided by Central paramilitary forces, according to sources in the Union home ministry.

A meeting among officials of SAIL, steel and mines ministry and home ministry here on Wednesday tied up security details for the project to counter possible disruptions by the Maoists as part of their strategy to keep the area "inaccessible" or "liberated" from civil administration.

Start of mining activity at Rowghat will become necessary to ensure uninterrupted supply of iron-ore to BSP, as the existing Dalli-Rajhara captive mines are expected to run dry in the next three to four years. Rail connectivity is, however, needed to ensure transportation of the ore from Rowghat to the steel plant. The proposed 90-km-long Dalli Rajhara-Rowghat line will take care of this aspect. Besides, with the line proposed to extend further to Jagdalpur, passenger traffic will also be facilitated.

Sources said while work on the initial 17-km-long uninhabited stretch will begin in December itself, the remaining 73-km tracks will be laid only after land acquisition and tribal rehabilitation issues are sorted, infrastructure laid out and security forces deployed to guard the works.

Of the 600 local tribals likely to be displaced by the rail project, 210 are likely to be offered jobs in the government. Adequate financial compensation will be handed out to locals who may be displaced as a result of land acquisition for the project.

With most of the compensation likely to be finalized by May, 2013, work on the currently inhabited stretch may start only from the middle of next year.

SAIL plans to invest Rs 5,000 crore in the Rowghat mines, including Rs 702 crore for laying of the Dalli-Rowghat rail line. All environmental clearances for the mines are in place.

Large presence of Maoists in and around Rowghat, however, is hampering SAIL's plan.

Maoist spokesperson Gudsa Usendi was quoted in a May, 2011, interview as saying: "They (the government) are trying to squeeze us. The Rowghat mountains are very important to the ecology of the area and the Maria tribes who live there."

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