Chhattisgarh: Ministers meet over water pollution due to Bailadila mines

Chhattisgarh state minister for education and tribal affairs Kedar Kashyap met with Union Steel Minister Birendra Singh on Friday in an attempt to thrash out a resolution for the water of rivers like the Dankni being polluted because of the Bailadila mines. Kashyap has asked for a sustainable solution to the problem, senior government officials said.

Kashyap conveyed to the Union minister that the pollution in the water was causing adverse effects to both the tribal population that lives alongside its banks, as well as the wildlife in the Indravati Tiger Reserve. “Kedar Kashyap also asked that local workers should be given priority when the NMDC hires third and fourth class workers for its mines, in an attempt to increase local employment,” a senior government official said.

Kashyap also said at the meeting that through CSR, the NMDC has proposed a sports training facility in Raipur for children who come from Naxal affected areas, and asked for work on that to begin soon. “The Union minister was receptive to these ideas and said that a meeting will soon be held on the issues concerning Bastar and solutions would be found for them,” an official said.