Mines and Geology Department recommends referring Ballari mining representations to Justice Dhulia committee

Fresh official correspondence from two Karnataka government departments has brought renewed attention to the representations relating to the Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) lease and the categorisation of certain mining leases along the Karnataka-Andhra Pradesh border.

In a letter dated July 17, 2026, the director of the Mines and Geology Department informed the State government that a representation submitted by Ballari-based petitioners Tapal Ekambaram and Tapal Ganesh, forwarded by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, should be placed before the Justice Dhulia Committee, constituted by the Supreme Court to examine issues relating to OMC and the inter-State forest boundary dispute.

The department said it was not the competent authority to decide the issues raised in the representation and recommended that the matter be forwarded to the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) and the Justice Dhulia Committee for an appropriate decision.