Bhubaneswar: Following the order of the Supreme Court on illegal mining in Orissa, the state government has issued show-cause notices to mine leaseholders guilty of excess mineral extraction.
The notices have been served on miners whose ore production exceeded the limits under Forest (Conservation) Act, mining plan approved by the Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) and consent to operate granted by the Orissa State Pollution Control Board as per the Air and Water Acts.
“There have been violations of mining plan, Forest Act, Air and Water Acts and consent to operate awarded to the mine leaseholders. We have treated these violations as excess production and accordingly notices have been served on them,” said director of mines Deepak Mohanty.
The lessees have been allowed 10 days to respond to the government notice. They can also appear for personal hearing October 10 at the office of deputy director of mines concerned.
This is the second time that the government has issued notices to the miners since the Supreme Court order of August 2 this year in a case pertaining to rampant illegal mining in Orissa. Last month, the government had asked the lessees to pay `17,576.17 crore as compensation for illegal production of minerals.
With this, the government hopes to mop up `2,900 crore from the errant miners. The latest notice has been slapped on 23 miners violating the Forest (Conservation) Act and 151 others for other statutory non-compliances, official sources said.
However, the miners alleged that the second notice did not conform to the Supreme Court order.
“There is no mention of Air, Water or Forest Acts in the Supreme Court judgement. The fresh notice by the state government seeking compensation is not payable and is against the spirit of the court order. We will file objection after getting the notice,” said secretary of Eastern Zone Mining Association (EZMA) Prabodh Mohanty.
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