309 cases of illegal mining in Chhattisgarh in first 6 months

As many as 309 cases of illegal mining were registered and over Rs 5 crore were recovered in penalties in Chhattisgarh in the first six months of 2019, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel told the state Assembly Friday.

In a written reply to a question by Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) leader Dharmjeet Singh, Baghel, who also holds the mining portfolio, stated that 309 cases of illegal mining were registered between January 1 to June 25, 2019.

Also, 3,167 cases of illegal transportation of minerals were registered during this period, he added.

The maximum number of cases of illegal mining (38) were registered in Kabirdham district, followed by Janjgir- Champa (33), Korba (31), Bemetara (29), Kanker (22), Rajnandgaon (20), Mungeli (20), Jashpur (18), Dhamtari (15), Balrampur-Ramanujganj (11), Durg (11), Raipur (9) and Balod (9), the chief minister's reply said.

Six cases of illegal mining each were reported in Gariaband, Mahasamund and Raigarh districts while five cases each were reported in Kondagaon, Bilaspur and Surguja.

Other districts where illegal mining was reported are Balodabazar-Bhatapara (4 cases), Surajpur (3), Koriya (2) and Bastar (1), it added.

The government collected a penalty of Rs 1,32,89,623 in cases of illegal mining, while for illegal transportation, a penalty of Rs 4,54,66,236 was recovered during this period, Baghel said.

As many as 3,328 vehicles were seized in connection withillegal mining and transportation of minerals, the reply said.