The Karnataka government has reworked the mineral transport permits (MTPs) issued to miners for transporting iron ore to domestic steel mills. The government has offered to issue the permit with a day’s validity for every 100 km and eight days for 500 km and above. The distance is from the mine to the destination.
At a meeting convened by the government on the direction of a Division Bench of the Karnataka High Court last week, mines and geology department officials proposed issue of MTPs with validity of eight days for long distance movement for a single mode of transport. If the entire material is to be transported by railways, one permit per rake will be issued. The validity period for such as permit will be 15 days.
The director of mines and geology, forest officials, the advocate general of the Karnataka High Court, Ashok Harnahalli, the counsels for mining companies, among others, attended the meeting.
The government has also offered to issue one permit per railway rake depending on the capacity of the rake (3,800 tonnes) with a validity of 15 days. The transport of mineral by road from mine-head to a storing point near the rail head will be regulated by issue of trip sheets and forest way permits will be issued in case of minerals excavated from forest areas. The duration for transport from mine-ead to the point of storage at the rail-head will be based on the actual distance, which is one day for a maximum distance of 100 km.
“The solution offered by the government is not completely acceptable to us as most destinations are less than 500 kms from the mines. This means each miner will hardly get one to three days for transporting ore. We will submit our views to the high court during the next hearing on September 24,” a miner, who is contesting the government’s ban on export of iron ore, told Business Standard.
The state government has also decided to post officials from departments of mines and geology and forest at mine-heads to issue instant mineral dispatch and forest way permits for trucks that leave the site.
The department of mines and geology will do away with the issue of bulk permits, as provided in the rules. However, the applicants will be able to file a single application for issue of one permit for one vehicle for a bulk quantity. The department will issue an order for releasing permits after due verification and ensuring that the royalty has been paid for the quantity applied for. Last week, Harnahalli informed the high court the measures taken by the government to check illegal mining.
The government has said permits will clearly show the mining lease number, the details of the lessee, the vehicle number, the quantity loaded, the duration of the validity as well as the destination. The forest department has agreed to complete the necessary enquiries within three days from the date of the issue of the release order of the mines and geology department.
