No bulk permits for transporting iron ore

In a move geared towards applying the brakes on illegal mining in Karnataka, the state executive council headed by Governor Rameshwar Thakur on Thursday decided to replace the existing bulk permit system for transporting iron-ore and with that of the vehicle trip-based permit system.

The council gave a green signal to the Karnataka Minerals (Regulation of Transport) Rules, 2008 "" which has been modelled on the lines of Centre's draft policy on regulating the transport of minerals. Briefing reporters here, Governor's advisor Krishna Kumar said: "The basic idea is to minimise illegal transportation of iron ore."

The rules were formulated following several brainstorming sessions involving officials from the departments of mines and geology, commerce and industry, and the Karnataka Lok Ayukta.

"At present, bulk transport permits are being issued. Accordingly, a mine owner would obtain a bulk transport permit after indicating that he would mine and move out a specified quantity of iron ore during the specified period. In such a system, it is difficult to determine if the owner has moved excess iron ore over that specified in the permit," Kumar said, and added: "But under the proposed vehicle trip-based system, permits are issued in accordance with the number of trips an iron ore truck makes. That ensures accountability on the quantity of iron ore transported."

In fact, Karnataka Lok Ayukta Justice Santosh N Hegde had written to the state government on several occasions seeking the replacement of bulk permits with that of vehicle trip-based permits. The Lok Ayukta, which is probing the Bellary mining scam that rocked the Kumaraswamy government, had suggested the departments of mines and geology, and forests to issue one permit for one truck per trip.

The permit should mention the ruck's registration number, the route it has to take and the tonnage, Hegde had said while drawing out a plan to increase the flow of royalty from minerals to the state exchequer. Taking into account the suggestions made by Hegde, the council decided to do away with the bulk permit system, Kumar added.

This apart, the state government has decided to request the Centre to recommend to the World Bank to grant a $300 million loan to complete the projects under the second phase of Karnataka State Highways Improvement Project (KSHIP-II).

Another $320 million will be sought from the Asian Development Bank for improving 863 km of roads in the state, Kumar said.

The other decisions taken at the council meeting were: Extending the deadline for implementation of Sakrama scheme for regularisation of unauthorised layouts in Bangalore to June 30 and allowing the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) to develop the Nadaprabhu Kempe Gowda Layout over 4,814 acres near Kengeri at a cost of Rs 2,700 crore. The BDA plans to distribute 60,000 sites in the layout.