Panaji | Oct 11, 2017: The Union ministry of mines has directed state governments to recover the full value of minerals extracted illegally or without environment clearance . The directive comes in the wake of the Supreme Court verdict in the Odisha illegal mining case.
The order is likely to have significant implications for Goan companies and fly-by-night operators allegedly involved in illegal mining in the state. The Shah Commission comprising Justice M B Shah, constituted to probe into alleged instances of illegal mining in Goa, had severely indicted several mining leaseholders and others during the state's mining boom and estimated the illegal extraction to be to the tune of Rs 35,000 crore.
The commission had substantiated its report with voluminous data on the basis of government-furnished documents.
The Supreme Court in its order dated August 2, 2017, on Common Cause versus Union of India and Others, related to illegal mining in Odisha, had directed that amounts due from leaseholders be recovered and steps be initiated to prevent incidence of it in future.
Quoting this order, MoM has written a letter on September 27, 2017 to the state governments for recovery in illegal mining.
Goa government had played down the quantum of illegal mining. Then chief minister Manohar Parrikar had informed Goa assembly on October 12, 2013, that the state's mining loss could be more in the range of Rs 3,500-5,000 crore over the last five to seven years.
Sources from Goa Foundation, an NGO, which had filed a public interest litigation for the recovery of the money from lease holders involved in illegal mining said that the Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) has the extraction and mining plan data. Further, it stated that ministry of environment, forests and climate change (MoEFCC) is in possession of the data around environmental clearances.
"A rapid study could be conducted for each lease, examining whether extraction was greater than the limit sanctioned by the mines bureau, and whether extraction took place while a required environmental clearance was not available," member of Goenchi Mati Movement, Rahul Basu, said.
The comptroller and auditor general (CAG) had in a scathing indictment of the directorate of mines and geology, had hauled it up for its failure to monitor unauthorised extraction, transportation and storage of minerals, and loss to the state exchequer to the tune of Rs 2,237.7 crore.
In its audit conducted between April 2016 and August 2016, covering the transactions for the period from 2009-10 to 2015-16, CAG said the performance audit on systems and controls in collection of mineral receipts revealed a number of system and compliance deficiencies.
From violation of the provisions of the acts and rules made for the regulation of mining operations in the state to non-recovery of the penalties and failure to detect suppression of stock, the auditor said there was complete lack of internal control in the mines department.
(Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/)