WORLD MINING CONGRESS CONCLUDES
- IT CALLED UPON MINING
INDUSTRY TO DISCHARGE ITS SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
The Five-day World Mining Congress ended in New Delhi today.
Presiding over the Valedictory Session Shri K.C.Pant, Deputy Chairman,
Planning Commission called upon the mining industry to adequately
discharges its social responsibility. It is best that this be
done by encouraging the mining industry to self-regulate. The
control and mitigation of the environmental impact, the integration
of mine development and mine closure, and promotion of continuous
improvement of health and safety are some dimensions of such self-regulation.
Sustainability of mining requires that all mining activities,
from exploration through mining to mine closure, are conducted
in a manner that is environmentally, socially and economically
acceptable.
Emphasizing on the need of sustainable and
profitable Mining development Shri pant stressed upon the importance
of improved environmental stewardship and the infrastructure.
Shri Pant cautioned the Congress and said there will come a time
in the future when the known reserves will be inadequate to meet
the demand. He, therefore, suggested that it was incumbent upon
us to devise strategies which would make the process more orderly.
International cooperation in ensuring that demand-supply gaps
are minimized appears to be essential, however, care has to be
taken to ensure that the burden of such adjustment does not fall
on those countries which can least afford it, he said.
Chief Guest, Minister of State for Coal Shri
Prahlad Singh Patel called upon the Mining Committee to evolve
safe, pollution free and precision mining. He hoped that the ideas
and suggestions given in the Congress will crystallize for the
benefit of mining community and mankind at large. He expressed
confidence that the wide diversity of topics discussed in the
Congress will definitely chart the direction for growth of the
global mining industries for the 21st century.
The Congress during the course of five-days
discussions evolved a declaration that the mining industry performances
in production, productivity safety, health and environment need
to be continuously developed. Investment in mineral exploration
needs to be significantly increased. The technology upgradation
for seeing through the upper 1 km of the earth's crust will hopefully
lead to the discovery and subsequent exploitation of major mineral
deposits.
Among the other important declarations the
Congress adopted was that the mining industry must integrate the
basic tanets of sustainable development within its corporate decision-making
process and seek continuous improvements in the social, economical
and institutional development of the mining communities.
