Samaj Parivartana Samudaya (SPS) founder-president S.R. Hiremath has urged a Supreme Court-appointed Monitoring Committee and the Central Empowered Committee to visit mining-affected areas in Karnataka and submit a report to the court before the next hearing of a public interest litigation petition scheduled for Thursday. He called for inspections in Bheemasamudra in Chitradurga district and Narasapur in Sandur taluk of Ballari district to assess the impact of mining activities.

Addressing a press conference in Hubballi on Friday, October 23, Hiremath said SPS had written to Monitoring Committee chairman Deepak Sarmah and other members requesting their visit to the affected locations. The organisation wants the committees to examine the conditions in the mining-hit areas and document their findings for submission before the court proceedings.

The proposed visit is intended to assess the effects of mining in the two locations and provide the court with information on the ground situation. Bheemasamudra, in Chitradurga district, and Narasapur, in Ballari district's Sandur taluk, were specifically identified in the request made by SPS. The organisation has asked the committees to conduct the assessment ahead of the next hearing.

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The request places emphasis on obtaining a direct assessment of the areas affected by mining rather than relying solely on information submitted by other parties. A visit by the committees could allow them to examine local conditions and prepare a report for consideration during the ongoing legal proceedings. However, the available report did not provide specific details of the environmental, social or other impacts SPS wants the committees to investigate.

The Supreme Court-appointed Monitoring Committee and the Central Empowered Committee have been asked to undertake the proposed inspection and communicate their findings to the court. Hiremath's appeal is linked to a public interest litigation petition whose next hearing is expected on Thursday. The report did not specify whether the committees had accepted the request or confirmed plans to visit the locations.

SPS has called for the assessment to be completed in time for the next court hearing, underlining the importance it places on documenting the situation in the mining-affected areas. Any report submitted by the committees would provide the court with their observations on the locations identified by the organisation. Further details about the proposed visit and the committees' response were not available in the report.

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