Curbing the Illegal Mining of Iron-Ore and Bauxite in Karnataka
As per section 23C of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 state governments have been empowered to make rules for prevention of illegal mining and for purposes connected therewith. Therefore, matters relating to regulation and control of illegal mining, etc are all matters which lie in the domain of state governments. However, the Ministry of Mines in co-ordination with State Governments has taken the following steps to curb and check illegal mining in the Country:
(i) Regular monitoring of framing of rules by the State Governments to control illegal mining as per Section 23C of MMDR Act (so far 20 States have framed the rules under section 23C of MMDR Act, 1957 to curb illegal mining);
(ii) Regular monitoring of setting up of Task Forces at State and District level to control illegal mining since the year 2005 (so far 23 States have reported to have constituted the Task Forces);
(iii) Regular monitoring of setting up State Coordination-cum-Empowered Committee (SCEC) to coordinate efforts to control illegal mining by including representatives of Railways, Customs and Port authorities (13 State Governments have set up a Coordination-cum-Empowered Committee);
(iv) Regular follow up with State Governments to adopt an Action Plan with specific measures to detect and control illegal mining including, use of remote sensing, control on traffic, gather market intelligence, registration of end-users and setting up of special cells etc;
(v) A Central Coordination-cum-Empowered Committee set up under the Chairmanship of Secretary (Mines) on 4.3.2009 and reconstituted on 20.10.2011 holds quarterly meetings to consider all mining related issues, including matters relating to coordination of activities to combat illegal mining;
(vi) Ministry of Railways have instituted a mechanism on 16.4.2010 to allow transportation of iron ore only against permits issued rake-wise and verified by State Government, apart from taking measures to fence and set up check post at the railway sidings;
(vii) D/o Revenue (Customs) has issued instructions to all its field units to share information on iron ore exports with the State Governments;
(viii) Ministry of Shipping has directed all major Ports in the country to streamline the verification procedures for movement of iron ore, and to check whether royalty has been paid for the consignment;
(ix) Government has notified amendment in Rule 45 of Mineral Conservation and Development Rules, 1988, on 9.2.2011 making it mandatory for all miners, traders, stockists, exporters and end-users to register with IBM and report their transaction in minerals on monthly basis for a proper end-to-end accounting of minerals; and
(x) Indian Bureau Mines has constituted Special Task Forces for inspection of mines in endemic areas by taking the help of Satellite imageries.
This information was given by Minister of State Sh. Vishnu Deo Sai in reply to a question Rajya Sabha yesterday.
