Fresh drive in 80 Bellary mines to root out illegal activity

In the first round of its campaign against illegal mining,the ministry had tasted considerable success with the IBM detecting serious violations in 60 of the 106 mines it inspected. The mining regulator had also taken cognisance of minor violations in another 56 mines,the official said.

Anticipating some resistance from the miners involved in this menace,the mines ministry is banking upon the assistance of the states’ police machinery. However,the ministry has already planned to seek deployment of para-military forces,if the situation becomes dangerous.

Mines secretary Santha Sheel Nair had earlier written to her home ministry counterpart,G K Pillai,saying that the inspection squads might need para-military assistance,the official said.

Fearful that the squads might inadvertently step into areas where mines have been lain,the ministry has “sought deployment of anti-landmine vehicles in certain ore-bearing areas of Jharkhand,” he said. According to the new guidelines issued by the ministry to the inspection squads,they would analyse whether royalty has been paid on transport permits issued so far,besides the total number of such permits issued lessee-wise,thereby indicating the total tonnage transported.

The teams would direct all miners to submit details of the actual production and dispatches of iron ore along with invoices for 2009-10 (up to February 2010) within seven days,failing which action would be initiated against them under the Mineral Concession and Development Rules.

Apart from this,the IBM would also collate all information on mining leases as given in the approved mining plan for the last fiscal,the official said. In a new directive,the mines ministry has asked the squads to inspect those mines that have been closed to ascertain whether any fresh mining activity has been undertaken in the recent past. If such activity is found to have taken place,the squads have been told to suspend mining operations.

End users,too,would be brought under the scrutiny of the squads as the IBM would identify large end-users and traders and inspect their records along with that of state government officials under Section 23 B of the MMDR Act,the official said.