)
A joint team of state officials today conduced field verification of mining leases of Tata Steel, Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC), Serajuddin & Company and Kalinga Mining Corporation (KMC) in the iron ore rich Joda sector to oversee any possible encroachment of lease boundaries.
"We verified the lease boundaries of these mines at the field level. The verification was as per the directions given by the Shah Commission of enquiry”, said director of mines Deepak Mohanty.
The team inspected Tata Steel's Khandabandh mines and Guruda mines of Serajuddin & Company.
As per the instructions of the Shah commission, the state government had constituted five teams- one each for three mining circles in Keonjhar district and two mining circles in Sundergarh district. Each of the teams consisted of two members each from the departments of revenue, forest and steel & mines. These committees were headed by a scientist from Odisha Space Application Centre (ORSAC).
These five teams were supervised by two district level committees headed by the collectors of Sundergarh and Keonjhar districts. Moreover, a state level committee was formed under D Biswal, additional secretary (forest & environment).
The committee's responsibility was to ascertain if a mine owner undertook mining beyond lease area.
