Jajpur: Special squads have been formed to check loot of minor minerals in the state, sources said here Tuesday. They added that to stop the illegal trade of minor minerals in Odisha, the Department of Steel and Mines has formed sub-divisional and tehsil-level committees under the government’s directives. These committees will report monthly to the district-level task force and the Director of Mines, focusing on actions like raids on illegal quarries and reviews of unauthorised mining activities.
The sources informed that the Additional Chief Secretary issued a notification in this regard, December 4, 2024. The sub-divisional committees will be chaired by the sub-collector and include members from SDPO, ACF, range officer, tehsildar, police inspector and a mining officer as convener. Earlier, an armed force was established in this district to counter illegal mining and transportation of minor minerals. It provided support to revenue officials. The district collector had issued instructions to this effect. Special task forces have been formed earlier in this district, specifically in tehsils like Jajpur, Dharmasala, Darpan, Danagadi and Vyasanagar to address illegal lifting and trading of black stone, sand, murram, laterite stones and unauthorised crusher units. However, efforts to curb illegal mining have not been fully successful. It was alleged that some departmental staff colluded with the mining mafia and aided in the loot of minor mineral resources.
Sources said illegal transportation of black stone and murrams from areas like Barada, Aruha, Bajabati, and Dankari continue unabated. Unauthorised sand mining is also rampant at certain ghats of the Baitarani and Brahmani rivers. The recently-formed committees have been entrusted with the responsibility of safeguarding minor minerals, sources said. Whether the step will be successful will be clear in the days to come. The Revenue Secretary directed the formation of task forces comprising district collectors and SPs in each district to curb illegal mining activities in December 2018. The then-district collector Ranjan Kumar Das and SP here took prompt action by conducting night raids in sand quarries and leased (sairat) areas.
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However, in regions like Darpan and Dharmasala, illegal mining operations continued unabated. Former Jajpur district collector Chakravarti Singh Rathore had issued instructions to shut down illegal crushers, February 26, 2021. Approved crushers were mandated to install CCTV cameras and maintain a register to record the details of raw materials received.
Tehsildars were tasked to examine these registers and CCTV footage every 15 days and submit their reports. If any discrepancies were found, strict action was directed against owners of the concerned crusher units. When contacted over the alleged illegal mining of minor minerals, Jayaprakash Nayak, Deputy Director of the department stated that various measures have been taken to address these issues. He asserted that the department had achieved considerable success in controlling illegal mining activities.
