Atomic Research Centre, Hyderabad, asking for requisition of 100 acres of land for constructing new uranium mines in Gogi(Gulbarga district)

Janardhan Upadhya, the Shahapur taluk’s tax collector had confirmed that they had received a letter from Atomic Research Centre (ARC), Hyderabad, asking for demand of 100 acres of land. He said that the revenue department would submit a proposal to the Karnataka government so that they could acquire the land, using the "Urgency Clause", under section 17 of the Land Acquisition Act since the Union government needed the land.

But the Gogi gram panchayatis up hands over the proposal to mine uranium in the village. It has been decided to request the government to train ARC to close its survey/mining work in the village. The local government in its resolution has said that many people were suffering from skin diseases as effluents from drilling were directly mixing with the drinking water; which pollutes the water in the bore-wells as well. This was an issue on 30^th June 2009 in ExpressBuzz.

Exploration by the Hyderabad-based Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMDER) has found huge traces of uranium in Gogi village in the Bhima River basin in Shahapur taluk.

But district administration said that, "Experts say we have one of the richest grades of uranium in the world below us”. AMDER officials had written to the state government that the Gogi project has yielded large deposits of high-quality uranium. They had also said that the uranium mining at this site would turn out to be economically viable.

According to a report submitted to the DC's office, a borehole dug to the depth of 80 meters revealed more than 0.1% uranium oxide, the maximum value of uranium deposit found outside Canada.

AMDER has also called for tenders from experienced miners to expand an underground mine. The work, estimated will cost up to Rs 13.5 crores [US$ 2.8 million], which is expected to be completed in 36 months. This was an issue on 30^th June 2009 in Times of India.

Evaluation of economic possibility of the uranium deposit at Gogi in Gulbarga district of Karnataka is in progress. This was an Annual Report 2005-2006 at UCIL.