In neighbouring Karnataka, the Lokayukta report on illegal mining has led to the resignation of B S Yeddyurappa as Chief Minister and put the BJP on the defensive. What has been little talked about, so far, is the report’s mention of the crucial role played by ports in Congress-ruled Andhra Pradesh in the export of illegally mined iron ore. According to the report, trucks and rail rakes laden with iron ore made their way out of Bellary to Krishnapatnam Port, Kakinada Port and Visakhapatnam Port, via Anantapur and Kadapa, in Andhra. Interestingly, the Kiran Reddy government on Monday transferred Principal Secretary Ajay Mishra, Transport, Roads and Buildings, in the Infrastructure and Investment Department. He was transferred to General Administration Department, though he continues to hold additional charge of Ports for now. While the Andhra government passed the buck to the Customs Department and private ports on the matter of the export of iron ore, saying it isn’t involved in checking or monitoring contents of exports, the Customs says it has no jurisdiction to check the origin or legality of a cargo unless it is on the Government of India’s restricted list. Justice Santosh Hegde report says the maximum export of iron ore in Andhra was out of the Krishnapatnam Port, a private port that started operating only in April 2008 and has been developed by Navayuga Engineering Company Ltd, located in Nellore district adjoining Kadapa. The Lokayukta report states that 1.11 crore metric tonnes of illegal iron ore was exported from Krishnapatnam — 25 lakh tonnes in 2008-09, 51 lakh tonnes in 2009-10 and 25.68 lakh tonnes till July 2010. Through the Kakinada Anchorage Port, run by the Andhra government, and Kakidana Deep Water Port run by Kakinada Sea Ports Ltd, 17.55 lakh MT of illegal iron ore was exported. “It is the Customs Department which has to check the cargo and certify. It is their job to check the origin of the cargo and determine if it is being illegally exported,” said Mishra. He also claimed that their “internal reports” showed that since Karnataka banned the export of iron ore from its ports in July 2010, none of it had passed through Krishnapatnam and Kakinada Ports. “But if these reports are found to be false or if there are any discrepancies, we will definitely initiate action against erring officials of the ports. But Customs is not under our purview,’’ Mishra said on Monday. Saying “there is no truth in the Lokayukta allegations”, Director of Ports, Andhra, M Muralidhar Reddy also said port authorities had no control over the origin and nature of cargo, and that audited reports presented by Krishnapatnam and Kakinada ports did not suggest any illegal or excess export. “Why don’t you ask the port owners?” Reddy added. “As I see it, you cannot book for 10 tonnes of cargo and load 100 tonnes. It is practically not possible. Besides Customs, cargo has to go through so many other agencies including insurance agents. I do not think that iron ore was exported illegally by hoodwinking all the agencies involved.” In the case of the Kakinada Anchorage Port at least, which is under Andhra’s control, he asserted, no iron ore from Karnataka was exported. However, many port officials admitted that this wasn’t true, saying that after Karnataka banned exports, mining companies turned to ports in Andhra and Tamil Nadu, transporting iron ore illegally on trucks and cargo trains. “Miners like Gali brothers who had licences in both Karnataka and Andhra found it easy to transport iron ore from Karnataka to AP ports passing it off as ore mined from Andhra. The cases made out by Forest Department officials in Anantapur district clearly show that trucks carrying iron ore from Bellary were using forest routes to cross into Andhra and from there to various ports,’’ an official said. Commissionerate of Customs of Central Excise, Guntur, which has jurisdiction over Krishnapatnam Port, said it was not the duty of Customs officials to check the origin or legality of cargo unless it had been placed on the restricted list of Government of India. Still, C P Rao said, they had been “checking all the iron ore coming to the port and have not allowed any illegal exports” since the Karnataka ban. According to the Lokayukta report, “export in excess of the permitted quantity from Krishnaptanam Port was 1,00,86,277 metric tonnes in 2009-10 and 53,18,164 MT between April and December 2010. The exported ore was from Karnataka and was illegal as no permits were issued to any company to export it”. Audited reports of Krishnapatnam Port, given to the Department of Ports, show that 68 per cent of the port’s total income is from iron ore export. On April 13, 2010, the port set a record by loading 60,021 metric tonnes of iron ore onto MV Tian Li Hai. The port is promoted by Hyderabad-based C Visweswara Rao (CVR) Group, with its Navayuga Engineering Company Ltd as the flagship company. CVR’s son C Sashidhar, who is Managing Director of Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd, refused to comment while his office issued a statement saying that it was the responsibility of the Customs Department to certify cargo. Besides offices at Chennai and Bangalore, Krishnapatnam Port incidentally has a marketing office at Hospet in Bellary. The private Kakinada Deep Water Port is operated by Kakinada Sea Ports Limited (KSPL) headed by K V Rao and exported 22 lakh metric tonnes of iron ore between 2005-06 and 2010-11. A KSPL official too said that loading or unloading was only done after the Customs cleared the cargo and that the port authorities had no role to play in determining if the cargo was illegal or not. “You should ask the Customs Department,” an official at the office of CEO Y S Prasad said. 1.11-cr metric tonne exported till july ’10 The Lokayukta report states that 1.11 crore metric tonnes of illegal iron ore was exported from Krishnapatnam till July 2010. Through the Kakinada Anchorage Port, run by Andhra government, and Kakidana Deep Water Port, 17.55 lakh MT of illegal iron ore was exported.