35 mining leases under OMC belt

As many as 35 mining leases have been granted and executed in favour of the state-owned Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC) out of which seven mines are in operation.

OMC has been granted these 35 mining leases over the last 50 years.

The mining leases granted to OMC are for mines with deposits of iron ore, manganese, chromite, limestone and gemstone. These mines are spread across districts like Keonjhar, Sundergarh, Jajpur, Dhenkanal, Rayagada, Kalahandi and Nuapada.

The OMC mines, currently in operation, include the Daitari, Gandhamardhan, Khandbandh, Bangur and S B Mines in Keonjhar district; Kurmitar mine in Sundergarh district and South Kaliapani mine in Jajpur district.

A total of 5452 workers are engaged in these seven operational mines out of which 1181 are the employees of OMC.

Meanwhile, , the state minister for Raghunath Mohanty said, “The Centre has revised the royalty rate of coal for Orissa four times and that of non-coal minerals five times in the past 20 years. While the coal royalty was last revised in August 2007, the royalty for non-coal minerals was revised recently in August 2009.”

He said, the state steel and mines department is considering a proposal to use Remote Sensing Technology for effective mapping of the mining areas in the state, especially those located in Keonjhar district.

The prime objective of using this technology is to prevent illegal mining activities and check irregularities in the lease areas.

Besides, this technology will be used to undertake survey and exploration work of the new mines.