Govt records lack info on mines under 'deemed extension'

Even as 53 mines in Odisha are operating under various provisions of 'deemed extension', the records of the state mining department lack complete and conclusive information on most of these leases. The records are particularly devoid of information relating to occupation of tribal land and conversion of agricultural land for mining purpose.

Taking serious note of the lapses, steel & mines secretary Rajesh Verma has asked director (mines) Deepak Mohanty to compile and furnish a complete report on the matter to the department. Verma had recently reviewed the draft check list in respect of these 53 mines.

The check list will have copies of orders and letters of different authorities as against any statutory clearance or other approvals. The list is also to be accompanied by joint verification reports of the district level task force on mining.

The director (mines) pointed out that since a host of lessees and licensees are not submitting statutory returns in time, this makes it difficult at the directorate level to furnish information to the government. It has been decided that the deputy director of mines and mining officers of the respective circles will ensure regular receipt of such returns.

It may be noted that the Odisha High Court (HC) had recently directed the state government to expedite disposal of cases of renewal of mining leases since a huge volume of such cases had piled up. In an interim order delivered on December 21 last year, the HC had instructed the state government to dispose off all applications for renewal of mining leases within three months. But the state government had sought additional time to decide on these cases citing that being quasi judicial matters, their disposal was a time consuming affair.

The HC directive was in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) that sought repeal of controversial deemed extension clause of Mineral Concession Rules (MCR)-1960.

Under Section 24-A clause 6 of MCR, if a miner has applied for lease renewal a year before the lease expiry and the state government fails to expedite renewal applications within due date, then the miner will be considered to be operating the mine under extension of lease validity. The petitioner alleged in his plea that many miners are operating under this provision with the connivance of state government officials and in some cases the deemed extension period goes beyond 20 years after lease expiry.

Mine owners like Tata Steel, Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL), Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC), Essel Mining & Industries Ltd (EMIL), Mid East Integrated Steel Ltd, Ferro Alloys Corporation (FACOR), Rungta Sons and KJS Ahluwalia were operating their leases under deemed extension.