Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to revoke a new Office Memorandum issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.The memorandum exempts mining projects involving atomic, critical, and strategic minerals from mandatory public consultation. Stalin says this undermines environmental safeguards and strips away local communities’ rights to raise concerns about displacement, environmental damage, and loss of livelihood.
Stalin emphasised that Tamil Nadu’s coastal regions—especially the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay—harbor rare earth mineral deposits, but are also ecologically fragile. He warned that these areas host turtle nesting grounds, coral reefs, mangroves, and dunes that protect from erosion and cyclones. Mining there without local oversight, he argues, would risk irreversible harm.
He also pointed out that public hearings have been a key part of India’s environmental governance since the 1994 Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) notification, amended in 1997. Stalin noted that recent Supreme Court and National Green Tribunal rulings have ruled that major changes to EIA rules cannot be made through executive orders like office memorandums.
He urged that matters of such significance should be discussed openly in Parliament and State Assemblies.