Centre to review action against illegal mining next week
Continuing its drive against illegal mining, the Centre is convening a meeting of state governments next week to review the action taken to check the problem.
"Mines Secretary S Vijay Kumar, who will chair the meeting, has also asked the state governments to submit the action taken report till November-end," an official said.
The official added that "the meeting would also review the position regarding the constitution of high-level state committees and co-ordination with the Railways, ports and customs departments" which was suggested by the ministry earlier to crack down on illegal mining.
In a similar meeting held few months back, the Centre had suggested the state governments to constitute such committees, so that a state-level action plan with the help of technology can be prepared to check the issue.
The committees were to be headed by the chief secretary or additional chief secretaries of the respective states.
However, only 13 states, including Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Goa, Jharkhand and Karnataka, have formed such committees at present, the official said.
Besides this, issues like adoption of model state mineral policy, royalty rates and expediting the forest clearance for mining leases would also be discussed in the upcoming meeting, he added.
In 2009-10, domestic mining production was about 226 million tonnes. On the other hand, about 42,000 cases of illegal mining were also detected last year in the 11-mineral bearing states that includes Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, and Jharkhand.
The politically sensitive issue, which kept on rocking Parliament and the Karnataka assembly, forced the Centre to constitute an inquiry commission headed by former Supreme Court justice M B Shah in November.
The commission is expected to submit its report in 18 months.
The Mines Ministry had also asked the state governments earlier to use satellite imagery to detect illegal mining activities and constitute price monitoring cells, as a spurt in prices is usually linked to increased illegal mining activities.
Meanwhile, the ministry also added a provision in the new mining bill, which states that anyone found guilty of illegal mining will be debarred from mining activity anywhere in the country.
Last month, the draft bill got the clearance of a ministerial panel headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and is expected to be cleared by the Cabinet soon.