In this season of scams the issue of illegal mining came into sharp focus last Saturday thanks to a new documentary Blood and Iron which tore open a festering red wound in the Indian polity for public scrutiny.
After the first-cut screening at the Suchitra Film Society auditorium in the tree-lined old neighbourhood of Banashankari, three commentators unpacked the content of journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta's film.
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Lokayukta Justice N Santosh Hegde, historian Ramachandra Guha and retired senior bureaucrat Chiranjiv Singh pondered what mining in Bellary meant for Karnataka.
Reportedly, the state lost Rs 2,500 crore due to the clandestine export of iron ore. But this is only the widely reported part of the scam just like the 'juicy' bits of the Radia tapes that have rolled out. "It is a fraud played on the economy," Hegde said. He had said so in his report on mining that the state government sat on, leading to his resignation (that he later withdrew).
Hegde explained the maths.
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