Shivamogga | April 13, 2016: The two-decade old problem of getting a own mining area and iron ore at a cheaper rate is till haunting SAIL-owned Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel Ltd (VISL) in Bhadravathi near here.

The factory was getting ore from Kemmangundi mines till 1998. After the ore exhausted at Kemmangundi, the company sourced the same from Shigadi village. But after the village was included in wildlife restricted zone of the Western Ghats, the forest department objected to mining. A local court of Chikkamagluru upheld the objection, forcing the factory to purchase the ore from the open market by paying Rs 5,700 per tonne.

However following losses, the factory reduced the production, which left its workers and their families high and dry.

Several delegations have met both the state and the central governments to allocate a separate mining area to the factory, but to no avail. The state government has also been urged to provide 245 acres of mining land at Ramanadurga area near Ballari. The central government is yet to heed the demand.

Considering the plight of the factory and its workers, mines and geology minister Vinay Kulkarni paid a surprise visit to Bhadravathi on Monday evening. He has promised to supply ore to the factory at Rs 2,400 per tonne shortly.

(Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/)