Karnataka: Hit for six by illegal mining, inter-state boundary yet to be restored

The government had, at the winter session of the legislature in Belagavi  last year, that a committee of experts would be formed to examine the survey undertaken to fix the inter-state border between Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. 

But the committee is yet to be formed. This is likely to further delay the process of accurately demarcating the boundary between the two states. The joint survey between the two states of B1 category mines on the inter-state border and readying a map based on that are also likely to be affected. The inter-state border was damaged due to rampant illegal mining. 

As per the Supreme Court order, the Survey of India demarcated the interstate border and finalised a map in 2021. But Karnataka has expressed reservations about the exercise. 

Karnataka’s argument is that the survey is technically flawed and that it was undertaken unilaterally without taking into account the views of its officials. It also objected to the methodology employed for the survey.      

In 2022, the then deputy commissioner of Ballari district, had written to the governments of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh in this regard.

Also, the Karnataka chief secretary had not signed the survey report submitted to the apex court, on behalf the state, thus making it ‘incomplete’. 

Ballari city MLA Nara Bharath Reddy had raised the matter at the Belagavi session of the legislature and demanded that Karnataka’s land should be protected. 

In his reply, Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda had said that he was aware of the reservations expressed by Karnataka regarding the exercise undertaken by the Survey of India and that a committee of experts would be formed to examine the survey report. 

Bharath Reddy raised the matter again on February 19 this year at the budget session of the legislature through an unstarred question on whether the committee of experts had been formed. Byre Gowda, in a written reply, said that the panel was yet to be constituted.