Report likely in 2-3 months

The Justice M B Shah Commission of enquiry probing into large scale illegal mining is expected to submit its report on mining irregularities in Odisha within 2-3 months.

Asked if the commission would be in a position to submit its report in 2-3 months, U V Singh, team leader of the visiting panel said, “Yes, we will be able to submit our report by that time.”

The members of the probe panel held discussions with the state chief secretary B K Patnaik and other top officials of the state government.

Singh, however, chose to remain tight lipped on what transpired at the meeting. On mining activities being taken up outside lease area, he said, “We have taken note of it and are examining it.” Asked if the panel detected any irregularity during verification of records of mine lessees, Singh said “We will deal with it in our report.”

Chief secretary, B K Patnaik said, “Whatever information was sought by the Commission has been provided. We are going to furnish written reply to certain queries raised by them. The state government also clarified its stand on some issues pertaining to mining.”

Meanwhile the commission is likely to complete the examination of all records of the iron ore leases during its current visit to Odisha. “By Saturday, we hope to complete examination of the files related to iron ore mines and may be some of the crucial files of the manganese ore mines,” said Singh.

Sources said, the commission has so far verified about records of 55 iron ore leaseholders during their 10-day visit to the state. The examined files included that of Odisha Minerals Development Company (OMDC), Patnaik Minerals, RP Sao, KJS Ahluwalia and HD Sharma to name a few.

The Shah panel members had gone through the records of 83 mining leases during their last visit.

However, the commission, which has visited the state thrice in less than a year, did not rule out the possibility of visiting the state again. “We are not telling that we will come or not as it depends on the circumstances as the entire thing will be compiled and discussed with Justice MB Shah and other legal officers in the next 15-20 days. If some of the files require re-look we may come again,” he added.