Uneasy calm prevails ahead of Shah commission's visit to Odisha

Rising cases of non-compliance with mining and environmental laws, the deepening nexus between lessees and raising contractors and ore production beyond what was approved in the mining plan are likely to land the state government in a quandary ahead of the M B Shah commission’s visit.

The independent enquiry commission headed by Shah, retired judge of the Supreme Court, to investigate cases of illegal mining in several states, is scheduled to visit Orissa on November 15. The commission had recently completed inspection of some controversial mines in Goa.

The state steel & mines department, however, seems unperturbed over the visit.

The spate of illegal mining had visibly added to the state government’s discomfiture, even as it spurned persistent demands by the opposition for an enquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the mining scam, saying the state vigilance was equipped to handle the matter.

The controversial Ram Bahadur Thakur mines, at the heart of the controversial scam, had recently spelt trouble for the state government. A central tribunal had recently set aside the order of the government on refusing a mining lease to the scam-tainted miner. Accusing the state government of failing to provide sufficient evidence on the matter, it had said the state’s order was drawn under influence and was prejudged.

This apart, the alliance between miners in the Joda circle and raising contractor Thriveni Earthmovers had caught the government on the wrong foot. Three lessees — Indrani Patnaik, K J S Ahluwalia and T P Sao — had violated Rule 37 of the Mineral Concession Rules-1960 by forging dubious links with the raising contractor.

Opposition legislators, as well as the ruling party, had raised a storm over the issue, urging none other than Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to initiate stringent action against the miners and the contractor. The legislators had alleged the mining mafia, led by Sanatana Mahakud and Thriveni Earthmovers, had forcibly taken control of ten mines in the Joda circle.