CEC on mining to visit Odisha on Monday

The Supreme Court appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC) on mining is scheduled to undertake a two-day tour to Odisha for assessment of the status of mines operational here from Monday.
The team will make an independent observation during the tour which begins from June 9, said Director of Mines Deepak Mohanty.
During its visit to the state, the committee is likely to study the effect of the Supreme Court's May 16 order regarding temporary closure of 26 mines in the state.
Earlier, the CEC in its interim report to the Apex Court had informed that 56 iron ore and manganese mines were operating in Odisha with due permission of which 26 were running on second and subsequent renewal after the expiry of their mining leases.

The state government has set up a committee headed by the development commissioner to look into the issues related to closure of mines in Odisha.
In compliance with the SC order, the state mines department had recently passed orders for carrying on operations of eight mines. These included four leases of Tata Steel - Bamebari, Katamati, Joda East and Joda West, three of Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) and one lease held by state run Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC).