Noted media man Paranjoy Guha Thakurta screens documentary on destructive illegal mining in Bellary at a programme hosted by Moneylife Foundation together with Awaaz Foundation 

Independent journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta on Friday said that the mainstream media must do more to highlight the destructive illegal mining in the Bellary region of southern India's Karnataka state which has caused a much bigger loss to the country than even the 2G spectrum and licence scam.

"Unlike in the 2G spectrum allocation scam where the loss is notional, the loss due to illegal mining is actual and much bigger," he said. Mr Thakurta, who is a writer, educator, interviewer and commentator, pointed out that about two-third of the resources (iron ore) mined had gone out of the country and was therefore no recoverable.

Mr Thakurta was speaking at a special screening of his documentary film "Blood and Iron", about the destructive illegal mining in the Bellary region, for an interested gathering in Mumbai. The programme was organised at the KR Cama Hall by Moneylife Foundation together with Awaaz Foundation. The film which was made over the past year has been updated with the Supreme Court's latest order banning mining in Bellary and the resignation of BS Yeddyurappa as chief minister a fortnight ago.   

The 96-minutes long film documents a story of greed and devastation, that has ravaged the region across Karnataka and adjoining Andhra Pradesh, through interviews with a range of individuals from a cross-section of society.

It talks about how exports from Bellary have enriched a privileged few, while the ordinary people are trying to eke out a living in the area, and how iron ore mining-much of it illegal-has resulted in large sections of the people living in abject poverty.

The documentary mentions the infamous Reddy brothers who were ministers in the Yeddyurappa government and have so far been untouched despite high-ranking authorities naming them for being involved in this illegal activity.  

Post the screening of the film, a member of the audience referred to the ecological damage due to mining across the country saying there is a need for people to participate in the fight against this. Mr Thakurta agreed with the sentiment and said, "I have documented all the facts and presented it in my personal capacity."

To a question about the production of the film, he said the team that made the film had to be extremely cautious during the entire filming and he thanked the local people of the region for their support and their help. "We used the 'shoot and scoot' method. We never stayed at a hotel for more than a night. The film is also a result of the huge support from the local people, who gave in-depth inputs and analysis."

Another question was about the quantum of loss due to the illegal mining. Mr Thakurta said "the Justice Santosh Hegde report estimated that Rs16,000 crore has been lost. This figure is based on evidence available. But the loss could be much more as evidence for many other things may not be available."

On the matter of illegal mining and land laws, Mr Thakurta said that "even without the (Mining) Act, if the actual law is applied and followed, there would not be such a situation in Bellary and elsewhere."

Such illegal mining is active in Goa as well, but very little is reported about this in the media. "If I get enough resources, I would like to make a documentary showing two sides of Goa. One side is the 'tourist destination Goa' while the other is of the country side which has been devastated due to illegal mining," Mr Thakurta said.