Nine private miners may lose their leases

Nine private miners are likely to lose their mining leases in the state following a recent decision of the steel & mines department to cancel all applications for renewal of leases made between 1987 and 1994.

The department on Saturday had decided to bring such leases back to the fold of the state government against the backdrop of an ongoing probe into alleged large scale illegal mining activities in the state by the visiting M B Shah commission of enquiry.

The government order said, all applications for renewal filed within the time referred to in sub rule (1) under Mineral Concession Rules-1960 shall be treated to have been refused if the same did not receive the orders of the government within one year of the expiry of the lease and stated one-year period elapsed before January 7 1993. Such leases should also revert to the government.

Nine private lessees who run the risk of losing their leases are B C Mohanty & Sons (Kamarda chromite mines- Jajpur), S C Padhi (Banspani iron ore and manganese mines- Keonjhar), M G Mohanty (Gonua iron ore and manganese mines-Sundergarh), Rasiklal & Company (Bimla limestone and dolomite mines- Sundergarh), Ranisati Mining Traders (Chutia-Kadalibahala limestone & dolomite mines- Sundergarh), B D Patnaik (Kalaparbat iron ore mines Keonjhar), K N Ram & Company (Tanot-Roida iron ore mines- Keonjhar), T B Lal and Company (Jajang and Kaisa-Kolha-Barapada iron ore mines- Keonjhar).

Sources said, the list of miners facing the government action may grow longer as the process of identification of errant miners is still on.

“The decision will harm the mining industry. We will talk to the state government on it,” Prabodh Mohanty, secretary, East Zone Mining Association (EZMA). Deepak Mohanty, director (mines), “The state government will examine how the private lessees were operating their mines, whether they had working permits or not.” The state steel & mines department has identified 19 mines whose renewal was pending between 1987 and 1994. While the private miners are set to lose their leases, the government plans to relax the norms for two government controlled miners- Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) and Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC).

In the list of 19 such identified leases, seven are under OMC's leasehold while three captive iron ore mines- Bolani. Barsuan-Kalta and Tantra are held by SAIL.