Project Management Unit to curb illegal mining

After being cornered by the Opposition political parties over the spate of illegal mining activities in Orissa, the state government has finally swung to action and has decided to leverage IT in a big way to check illegal mining.

It has decided to set up a Project Management Unit (PMU) within the state steel & mines department. Under this project, the department, among other things will maintain online records of all the lessees whose mines are currently operational in the state.

"The state government has taken a series of steps to curb illegal mining but what is needed is system improvement and so we have decided to set up a PMU. Under this system, online records of all the 125 working mines will be maintained. Another review meeting will be conducted next week wherein the modalities of the project and its implementation will be finalized", the state Chief Secretary B K Patnaik told media persons after a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

The PMU is set to be operational within a couple of months. The state agencies that will play a key role in the implementation of the unit are Orissa Computer Application Centre (OCAC) and Orissa Remote Sensing Applications Centre (ORSAC). Idcol Software has been assigned the responsibility to develop software for the project. The project involves a cost of Rs 3.5 crore to be spent over 12 months.Meanwhile, the steel & mines department has already prepared a detailed database of all the 125 working mines including date of grant of Prospecting License (PL), Mining License (ML), forest clearance, surface right and production status. The information will be posted on the website of the department very soon.The department has also connected all the 14 mining circle offices with each other and this has been achieved through the State Wide Area Network (SWAN).

It has been decided to modernize 12 check gates at different mining areas which is expected to be done within 12 months. Initially, 4-5 check gates in locations like Joda and Paradip will be modernized within two months. These check gates would be connected with the mining directorate offices.Moreover, trucks carrying minerals, which have already been registered, would now be given unique codes and this is being done as per the order of the Government of India. The process will begin first at the Joda mining circle. The mines department has already given online transport permits in the mining circle.The digitized maps will enable the department to ascertain if a miner is carrying out mining activities beyond the leasehold area. Global Positioning System (GPS) has been used to prepare the maps and ORSAC would be offering satellite imagery data to the department from time to time.