Illegal Mining: Govt working on pan-India surveillance network

Mines Ministry is working on a pan-Indian surveillance network leveraging space technology to curb the menace of illegal mining in the country.
The Bhaskaracharya Institute of Space Applications and Geo-Informatics (BISAG) under the Department of Communications and IT (DEITY) is developing the technology for the system, a senior government official said.
The Mining Surveillance System (MSS) for major minerals is being developed with the help of BISAG to curb illegal mining with the use of space technology, he added.
Mines Ministry has now asked the states to provide the available digitised lease-wise information for all major mineral leases in their areas for expediting the development of MSS, the official said.

Conforming the development, another official said the issue will also be taken up at the high-level State Mining Ministers' meeting, which will be chaired by Steel and Mines Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, later this month.
The Centre has also strengthened penal provisions to check illegal mining in the country.

The penal provisions for illegal mining cases under Section 21 have been enhanced to a maximum penalty of Rs 5 lakh and jail term of 5 years.
According to the latest government data, 48,467 illegal mining cases of major and minor minerals have been registered in April-September 2015-16. This is against 97,149 in 2014-15, 88,689 in 2013-14 and 98,597 in 2012-13.

(REOP CCM10)
As per the recent amendment to MMDR Act, 2015 the
transfer of mineral concessions will be allowed only for concessions which are granted through auction. However, there is no provision for transfer of mining lease and prospecting licenses (captive mines) which were allocated earlier on first come - first serve basis, Mallik said.
Nalco CMD T K Chand, who is also Chairman of ASSOCHAM National Council on Mines and Mineral, said mining in India has tremendous potential to grow manifold. For actualisation of this potential mining has to be done scientifically and confirm to sustainability parameters, he said.

R K Sharma, principal secretary to the department of steel and mines of Odisha government, said there is need to upscale the exploration activities and private companies should come and set up office for exploration activities.
Environment and forest clearance should be taken care by equal participation from industry and government, he said.
Abhijit Pati , CEO-Aluminium Business, Vedanta Ltd, said Odisha has immense potential if it can leverage its mineral resources effectively and with urgency. The need of the hour is to have better mining governance by attracting the best in mining with state of the art technology, knowledge and skill set.

He urged the state to develop a world class mining research centre so that a coordinated effort can be initiated by the Centre to work for a vibrant and responsible mining drive for the state.