Bhadra river bore the brunt of mining

Story/Place-Kudremukh.
H M Aravind, TNN Jun 23, 2011,
CHIKMAGALUR: Mining for iron ore has caused extensive damage in the eco-sensitive Western Ghats near Kudremukh. Studies have revealed that a whopping 15 million tons of sediment has entered the Bhadra river and reservoir and over 50% of the sediment consists of mined waste material.
What's worse, it'll take years to fix this problem. In the early 1980s, when mining was on, environmentalists and wildlife activists were aghast at the pollution of forest land known for its biodiversity. After the Supreme Court stopped mining in rain forests of Kudremukh in December 2005, it became widely known that Bhadra river had been at the receiving end all the while.
Managing trustee of the NGO Wildlife First Praveen Bhargav, whose organization petitioned the apex court against mining in Kudremukh, told TOI: "The tragedy is that mining infrastructure at Kudremukh hasn't been dismantled."
Commissioned in 1965, the Bhadra dam is located about 70km downstream of Gangdikal nestled in Kudremukh National Park where three rivers — Tunga, Bhadra and Netravathi — originate. Declared a reserved forest in 1916 by the British, the park is the second-largest declared wildlife protected area spread over 600 sqkm in the Western Ghats.
Owing to mining for about three decades, the river is polluted along the banks till the dam. The worst affected are aquatic creatures, D V Girish of the Bhadra Wildlife Conservation Trust, said. "The breeding cycle of aquatic creatures has changed. We cannot quantify the damage cause to people," he said.



source-timesofindia.indiatimes.com


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