CEC team begins field probe at Joda mining circle

The SC appointed panel to visit Koira on Monday

A four-member team of Central Empowered Committee (CEC) appointed by the Supreme Court today started its field visit to probe allegations of illegal mining at Joda mining circle in Keonjhar district.

The team today visited iron ore mines of Ram Bahadur Thakur (RBT), R P Sao, KJS Ahluwalia and Essel Mining (Kasia) to verify the charges of land encroachment, excess mining and other environment rule violations.

The team was instructed by the apex court in April this year to submit details of the status of illegal mining in Odisha while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) in this regard.

In its petition, civil society organisation Common Cause had appealed the top court to ban mining in Odisha after leaked reports of Shah Commission of enquiry suggested rampant illegal mining in the state.

The team, led by P Jaykrishna, will visit the Koira mining circle on Monday. During its trip to the state, the team will inspect documents and mining practices of 11 iron ore and manganese mines in both Joda and Koira circles, as per official schedule of the panel.

During its probe, the team found discrepancies in map used by the miners and government records. The miners claimed they were following maps provided the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) while CEC members pointed out that maps provided by the state government or Indian Bureau of Mines must be followed for mining purposes.

As per mining laws, raising minerals from outside leased areas and non-approved forest areas is a punishable offense.

Besides irregularities in mining beyond lease hold area, the panel members were briefed about other violations such as excess mining and violation of rule 37 of Mineral Concession Rule (MCR) by the accompanying state government officials.

After Koira visit, the team will hold discussion with state government officials on July 15 before submitting its probe report.

The team is expected to submit its status report to the Supreme Court by the end of this month to help the court to take a decision, weather mining should be allowed to continue in Odisha or not.  

Last week, the CEC had discussed with state government officials in New Delhi about the status of iron ore and manganese mines, their lease period, renewal of mining leases, clearance for consent to operate, mining plan, and forest and environment plan as well as the status of both working and non-working mines.

In its June visit, the panel had asked the state government to complete the hearing process of miners who have been charged with violation of Rule-37 of MCR expeditiously.

Following the CEC team suggestion, the state had issued show cause notices to eight miners for statutory violations. The miners who were asked to respond to the notice included Indrani Patnaik, KJS Ahluwalia, RP Sao, Sarada Mines, Aryan Mines (Koira), Mala Ray mines (Keonjhar), Kabita Agrawal (Koira) and Mideast Integrated Steel Ltd (Barbil) mines.

Out of the eight miners, six have already moved the revision authority under the Central Mines ministry and have secured orders barring the state Steel & Mines department from passing any order in their cases.

Rule 37 of MCR bars mine lease holders to sublet or transfer ownership of the lease without prior government permission.