The ongoing enquiry into illegal mining in Odisha by the members of Shah Commission may get an extension due to huge pile of files and some complexity detected in the mining lease papers.
So far, the commission has checked files of only 32 mining leases, out of the list of 142 leases it had submitted to the government. With the remaining period of their visit, which ends on October 11, it is impossible to verify the documents related to rest of the mines.
If the members of the Commission do not complete their enquiry within the stipulated time period, then it has to either extend the tenure or might have to make another trip to the state, sources in the government said.
In the current phase of investigation, the central government-appointed probe panel is focusing on business and tax transactions of each and every iron ore and manganese mine in the state. The commission had earlier said that it cannot specify a time period for submitting its report on Odisha as it is a herculean task considering the large number of mining leases in the state.
Meanwhile, a pro-active state government, which itself has ordered a vigilance investigation into the allegation of illegal mining since 2009, has recently issued notices for cancellation of leases, which have not been renewed for long.
The state steel and mines department has directed the mines director to identify the mining leases which had applied for renewal before April 1991 and did not get their application processed. It ordered to bring those leases back to the state government fold. It also ordered to cancel all applications made between 1991 and 1993 for renewal of mining lease.
In case of scheduled-1 minerals (iron ore, manganese, chrome ore and bauxite) the cutoff date for cancellation of leases should be considered before 1999, the official order said.
While the new decision might affect mineral lease holders waiting for renewal since 1991 (1999 in case of schedule one mineral), no state-run company would be affected by it . The state government has asked the Director of Mines to find out the deadlines missed by mines of central government and state government owned companies and refer their matter to the central government for relaxation.