Karnataka’s Lokayukta Santosh Hegde’s report is a sordid story on the rise of India’s mining poster boy, Bellary. The protagonists of the script, the Reddy brothers, used muscle and money to grease their way through government departments. Initially, it was all gold. But Hegde’s report exposed the dingy substrate of Bellary’s mining operations. Heads have rolled, and the political establishment of Karnataka has been shaken up. BJP leader B S Yeddyurappa was made to quit the chief minister’s post. The Supreme Court has stepped in to ban mining on the basis of a report by the Central Empowered Committee (CEC). The biggest losers have been the environment and the people living in the area.