Nagpur | Oct 09, 2015: Secretary Ministry of Mines, government of India, Balvinder Kumar assured to request the Maharashtra Government to conduct a pollution study of Chandrapur, said to be the fourth most polluted city in the country and its surroundings, in order to take corrective measures.

He told TOI he would communicate in this regard with the state government. "We will do the study for the state government," he said. Kumar was in the city for a visit to all the mining related institutes in city and the general body meeting of the National Institute of Miners' Health (NIMH). He also inaugurated the first 'noise mapping' laboratory of the country at NIMH.

Sharing developments and changes in the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2015, (MMDR Act) Kumar said regulations like passing on 30% of royalty collected to the District Mineral Foundation (DMF) Trust and 2% to the National Mining Exploration Trust (NMET) will make mining industry contribute for the development of the society. DMF will be using the money for socio-economic development of community in and around the mine. It would include setting up schools, hospitals, developing roads and other infrastructure. "This is being done under the Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojna," said Kumar.

However, only new mine lease holders will pay the one-third royalty to DMF. Existing mine lease holders the contribution to DMF should not exceed total royalty. More than 80% of total DMF money should be used in the same year while the remaining 20% could be kept for future use. Under the amended MMDR Act, the exploration of minerals is also being opened up to private sector. Hence mine owners will pay a royalty of 2% to NMET. This money will be used encourage entry of private sector into the field. "We want to bring more transparency into the system and hence an auction system has been introduced for allocating mining licences. This will allow market forces to be part of the process and can minimize corruption," said Kumar. Total 12 minerals including bauxite, copper, limestone and tungsten will be auctioned. The notice for tendering will be issued in a month and tenders will be floated in two months, he added.

The ministry is also ensuring that all mines conduct the noise and dust mapping and also hold regular health check ups for their workers. This will allow authorities to take both preventive and corrective measures in the interest of the workers.

(Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/)