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Bhubaneswar (Orissa) : Acting very tough on illegal mine owners, the Task Force of the Indian Bureau of Mines probing into the illegal operation of mines in Orissa, has recommended suspension of eight mines and issued show cause notices to 14 other for violating Mineral Conservation and Development Rules (MCDR) of 1988.
The Task Force divided in two groups had inspected 23 mines in mineral rich Sundargarh and Keonjhar districts in the wake of a multi crore mining scam surfaced.
After an extensive inspection of mines, randomly picked up in the Keonjhar and Sundargarh districts of Orissa, the Task Force, the IBM sources said had recommended suspension of mining operations in a total of 8 mines and issued show-cause notice for violation of MCDR, 1988 in the remaining mines.
The deviations observed in the mines inspected by the Task Force include different aspects and proposals made under different sections of the Mining Plan which is a comprehensive document approved by the Indian Bureau of Mines.
Official sources said two teams had commenced their inspection in Keonjhar and Sundargarh districts of Orissa headed by Regional Controller of Mines, Nagpur Region M Biswas and Deputy Controller of Mines, Dehradun Region J R Choudhary. The team had covered prone areas of Iron and Manganese mines in Orissa.
The Indian Bureau of Mines, Ministry of Mines, Government of India has constituted a Task Force to look into the aspect of illegal mining in the country.
The teams during their inspection had examined the ground realities on the aspects of serious violations and gross deviations from the approved Mining Plans or Scheme of Mining and necessary action as required under the provisions of the Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulation)Act, 1957 and Mineral Conservation & Development Rules, 1988 would be taken to curb illegal mining.
The Orissa government had already ordered a vigilance inquiry into the illegal mining in Keonjhar and Sundargarh district and the vigilance had registered criminal cases against at least five mines owners and eleven government officials on the basis of prima facie evidence of illegal mining to the tune of over Rs.700 crores.
The Opposition Congress and BJP have been demanding a CBI probe into the multi crore mining scam alleging the involvement of the Naveen Patnaik government.
Series of PIL have also been filed in the Orissa High court seeking a direction from the court to order for a CBI probe into the scam.
The Supreme Court has recently directed the Central Empower Committee(CEC) to inquire into the illegal mining in Orissa and the violation of Forest Laws.
The CEC had already asked the Orissa government to provide detail status of 602 mines in the state.
