Mines destroy Bhutan's mountains

By Bappa Majumdar

GOMTU, Bhutan (Reuters) - As an explosion booms across the mountains, Yeshey Drukpa, 60, clenches his fist in anger standing in the foothills.

"The abode of the gods is being destroyed," he says, pointing towards billowing smoke above.

Mineral mining in Bhutan, a country that prides itself on its environmentally friendly policies, is not only angering some locals. It is also damaging agriculture and killing wildlife in neighboring India, Indian officials said.

The Pugli hills around Gomtu, an industrial town in southwest Bhutan, are being blasted to extract dolomite, a mineral used both in steel manufacturing and in horticulture.

Just across the Indian border are the famed tea plantations of West Bengal state, the home of Darjeeling tea.

Landslides and erosion caused by mining have left at least 14 estates prone to flooding, the Indian Tea Association says.

Dolomite sediments are also turning the plantations' soil alkaline, while tea bushes thrive best in slightly acidic soil. In the Makrapara tea estate, airborne dust kicked up from the mines cakes on the leaves, choking the plants.

Production has dropped from 1,800 kg per year to 400 in the last five years, said manager Jaishankar Singh.

Meanwhile in neighboring Jaldapara sanctuary, animals are dying of thirst, unable to drink the river water left red and cloudy by mining deposits, a forestry official said.

"This issue undermines Bhutan's claims of following strict conservation methods," S.B. Patel, chief forestry conservationist in West Bengal, told Reuters. "They are ignoring the disastrous effect of unscientific mining in the mountains."

Patel recently lead a joint inspection along with Bhutanese officials of the hazardous effects of mining, and has submitted a report to the Indian government.

But the Bhutanese government denies the charges, saying landslides inside India are responsible for floods and pollution.

"We have only a few dolomite dust manufacturing companies and I am not aware of any problems caused by them," said Sangay Khandu, the director general of industries in Bhutan.

PROBLEMS IN BHUTAN

Former King Jigme Singye Wangchuck made protection of Bhutan's rich environment a cornerstone of the country's philosophy of Gross National Happiness.