The state Steel and Mines department has upbraided the Director of Mines for not taking the incidents of illegal mining and trading activities, as detected through raids by state level enforcement squad, to their logical conclusion by filing cases on these matters in the court of law.
“While cases of minor irregularities can be compounded, in cases of serious offences, complains in writing may be filed in the court as an exemplary measure”, said a letter sent from Steel and Mines department to Director of Mines. The letter said, “It is seen from your reports for the months of July and August 2011 that not a single complaint has been filed in the court. Henceforth, criminal complaints may be filed in a few cases depending upon the gravity of the offense.”
It criticized Director of Mines for adopting lax attitude in case of raids and recommended certain measures for filing action taken reports.
“The reports also indicate that no immediate seizure has been made (during July-August) which means that the checks conducted by the squads are not effectively organized. Action taken by the deputy director of mines/ mining officer in each case detected by the Enforcement Squads shall be reported in the remarks columns of the proforma,” the government directive said.
The government said the directorate should ensure that each team of State Level of Enforcement Squad completes the minimum number of tour days prescribed by the Steel and Mines department so that the multi department squads do not keep themselves idle.
“Your (Director of Mines) future report should contain the number of days toured by each squad along with your views on their performance during the month under report. Specific targets of inspection of various categories of establishments like leaseholds, trading and storage houses and transportation agencies during the month may be given and enforced,” the letter said.