State issues guideline to check illegal rail mineral transport

Orissa government has issued an interim guideline for movement of minerals by the Railways in a bid to check illegal transportation of ore through this route.

The guideline, which has been issued in consultation with the Railways, mainly focuses on authentication of the consignment to restrict the shady traders from sending illegally mined ores to different destinations.

The new guideline broadly has two check points. First, at the time of indenting for rail rakes, the person wanting to send the minerals has to get the signature of the local state mining official on the document authenticating the source of the material.

Second, after the material reaches the rail siding, it has been made mandatory for the railway officials to verify the transit pass issued for the consignment before allowing its stocking at the rail siding and subsequent loading on to the rakes.

This two pronged strategy would go a long way in checking illegal mining, stocking and transportation of minerals considering the fact nearly 50 per cent of the minerals raised in the state are transported through the Railways, said state steel and mines secretary, Ashok Dalwai.

Sources said, checking transportation of illegally mined ore through the Railways alone would result in revenue gain of Rs 500 crore to the state.

Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik and chief secretary, TK Mishra had also written letters to the Centre drawing its attention to the issue and urging the Railways to take immediate action to check transportation of illegally mined ores.

This was followed up by several rounds of talks between the state and the Railways officials before this interim guideline was issued with concurrence of both the parties.

However, for a comprehensive strategy to deal with the problem, the government has set up a committee to go into the whole gamut of transportation of minerals in the state and suggest measures to check illegal shipment of ore.