The first meeting of the inter-state coordination committee consisting of top officials of the governments of Orissa and Jharkhand formed to curb illegal mining activities, will be held in Jamshedpur on February 8.
The meet will focus on steps that can be taken to combat cross border transport of illegally mined ore. The principal secretary (home) of the Jharkhand government is set to preside over the meeting
“At the meeting, discussions will be centred around checking illegal transport of ore on the Orissa-Jharkhand border and also on information sharing at the check gates. The state government has constituted district level committees at Sundergarh, Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj and a state level enforcement squad to monitor illegal mining activities,” said a steel & mines department official.
Earlier, the Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had written to his Jharkhand counterpart, emphasizing on the need to have joint monitoring of illegal mining activities. The Jharkhand government had accepted the proposal.
The joint monitoring assumes significance as there has been a spurt in incidence of illegal mining in the state.
Police has registered 466 cases and arrested 1495 people in connection with illegal mining from different mining sectors in the past four months. As many as 349 persons have been charge sheeted while 562 vehicles have been seized.
Taken together, the state and district level task forces have seized 256,519 tonnes of iron ore and 9520 tonnes of manganese in the same period, said an official.