IBM surveillance system to curb illegal mining

Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM), under the Ministry of Mines, has developed the mining surveillance system (MSS) for mineral administration that will help state governments to curb illegal mining.
A statement of IBM issued here said MSS is a satellite-based monitoring system which aims to establish a regime of responsive mineral administration, through public participation, by curbing instances of illegal mining activity through automatic remote sensing detection technology.
West Bengal also faces illegal mining in coal and minor minerals.
In the MSS, geo-referenced mining leases are superimposed on the latest satellite remote sensing scenes obtained from CARTOSAT.
The system check a region of 500 meters around the existing mining lease boundary to search for any unusual activity which is likely to be illegal mining. States may adopt this system for minor minerals as well, IBM said.

IBM is organising workshops for state governments to showcase the system, its applicability.