PANJIM | March 02, 2017: After effective implementation of the Mining Surveillance System (MSS) in mineral rich States, including Goa, the Centre is now looking at the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones, to increase efficiency in the mining sector.

During a recently held Coordination-cum-Empowered Committee (CCEC) meeting, the Union Mines Ministry proposed introducing ‘Drone Technology’ in the mining sector, as recommended by the Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM).

“This technology would help the State governments in monitoring the compliance of the mining lease holder with the mining plan and in keeping a check on the amount of royalty paid by the mining lease holder as against the actual quantity of mineral extracted from the mining lease,” the minutes of the meeting state.

Sources in the Mines Department confirmed that the Union Mines Ministry had in December, asked the State to explore the usage and deployment of drone technology in mining belts. “We were not in position to decide on the matter due to the Assembly elections, as several officials were on polling duty,” sources said.

Getting no reply from any of the States, the Ministry has directed Mineral Exploration Corporation Limited (MECL) and Geological Survey of India (GSI) to study how drone technology could be adopted.

During the meeting, Tata Steels Ltd explained how it has deployed drone technology and photogrammetry tools to monitor the lease area (mining progress, compliance of actual mining vis-à-vis approved mine plan, lease boundary management etc), and the government has decided to the company’s help.

The Ministry is also in the process of engaging National Institute of Smart Governance (NISG) for development of a centralized portal for monitoring implementation of District Mineral Foundation (DMF). NISG will help States in developing portals and States have been asked to collect details of royalty payments and contribution received by them towards DMF.

(Source: http://www.heraldgoa.in/)