The Central Empowered Committee (CEC) of the Supreme Court of India has inferred that illegal mining was going on in Orissa for a long time in violation of the forest conservation act, air and water act and various norms of environmental clearance. The CEC, which was hearing a case pertaining to illegal mining activities in the state, has highlighted these issues in its interim report submitted to the Apex court. The main hearing on the case is scheduled to be taken up on May 7.
The findings of the CEC are based on the submissions made by the applicant and the Orissa government in the matter. The CEC report also mentioned that the production level in many mines was above the quantity approved in the mining plan (MP).
Besides, a large number of mines remained operational for long period of time, even after the expiry of the mining leases due to the delay in taking decisions on renewal applications filed by the lease holders.
In large number of cases, the forest areas approved under the Forest Conservation Act (FCA) were lesser than the forest areas included in the approved mining plan. Lack of co-ordination between steel and mines department and forest department resulted in inadequate enforcement, the report pointed out. Stating that the deemed extension clauses are primarily meant for contingency situation to ensure that the mining operations doesn’t come to an abrupt halt, it said, because of delay in taking decisions on renewal applications, this provision should not be availed indefinitely. Since continuing mining over a long period without renewal of mining lease becomes a potential source of irregularity, it is desirable that it should be decided in a time bound manner, the report observed.
It stated that for both Renewal Mining Lease (RML) and mining lease (ML), the lessees would have to pay the Net Present Value (NPV) of the forests for the entire lease area as per the Supreme Court direction of 2002. This is expected to fetch the state government about Rs 1000 crore additional revenue. It emphasized that for mining operations, the mining plan needs to be approved by the competent authority and the environmental and other statutory clearances must be obtained.
The interim report submitted by CEC also lists the steps taken by the Orissa government, though belatedly, during the last 3-4 months to check illegal mining in which 163 lease operations without requisite approvals were suspended. Mentioning that a regulatory system has been put in place to check transportation of illegal minerals through railways, rakes and port authorities, it said, comprehensive guidelines were issued on April 16 to railways to check transportation of illegally mined ores. Besides, the State Level Task Force and the District Level Task Force (DLTF) have been further strengthened.
However, shortcomings remain to be dealt with on priority basis so as to comply with the Forest Conservation Act, Environmental Protection Act and other statutory provisions and rules. Towards this objective, the recommendations are made for consideration of the Supreme Court, the report said.
