A six-member team of the Justice M B Shah Commission of enquiry appointed by the central government to probe illegal mining is set to visit Odisha on Wednesday.
This is the second visit of the panle to the state after the one in December, 2011. This time a team of six members headed by U V Singh, additional principal conservator of forest from Karanataka is scheduled to stay in the state upto October 12. The team is to inspect business transactions of 142 iron ore and manganese mines.
But it is yet not clear whether the team members will conduct the probe by verifying the official records at Bhubaneswar or make a field visit to some of the mines.
Meanwhile, several state government departments, especially the steel and mines department, have kept all necessary information ready to help the probe panel. Chief Secretary B K Patnaik has already asked all concerned departments to gear up for the panel’s investigation into illegal mining.
The commission had sought relevant information from the mining, forest and revenue departments as well as commercial tax directorate under finance department on areas like digitization of mine lease boundaries and cases of violations under mining and forest laws.
In December, 2011, an eight member team of the commission led by Justice M B Shah, a former Supreme Court judge, had visited select mines under Joda mining circle in Keonjhar district and had taken serious note of illegal mining activities, stating that it would not have been possible without the connivance of bureaucrats.
The commission had also raised concern over the rampant extraction of iron ore by miners in excess of the approved mining plan especially in the Joda mining circle, urging the state to curb production so as to ensure that the finite mineral resource is preserved for future generations. It had criticised the Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) for its alleged inaction against miners involved in ore extraction beyond the approved mining plan.
The mines inspected by the probe panel during its previous visit include Sarada Mines, Joda (east) mines of Tata Steel, Kasia iron ore and dolomite mines of Essel Mining & Industries, Mideast Integrated Steel’s (Mesco) Barbil mines, Unchabali iron ore & manganese ore mines of Indrani Patnaik, Patnaik Minerals Pvt Ltd under Joda circle, Jajang mines of Rungta Mines, Mala Ray mines and B D Patnaik's Kalapahad mines. The panel members had also visited the Paradip port to check export quantity of iron ore.
