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In the wake of High Court directive for finalizing pending
renewal of mining lease (RML) applications in three months, the
inter-departmental coordination committee constituted by the State Government
has found 53 cases eligible for renewal of their leases.
Forest & Environment Department Principal Secretary RK
Sharma has directed all concerned officials to remove the bottlenecks in the
way of grant of environment and forest clearances expeditiously within one
month.
A senior official of Mines Directorate revealed that once
an application for RML is cleared by the committee, it would be referred to a
special cell formed by the Steel & Mines Department. The Development
Commissioner JK Mohapatra is likely to give the final call on the renewal of
mining leases.
All these 53 applicants have valid environmental
clearances and have paid the present value (NPV). 34 out of the 53 cases for
RML are in stage-II while 15 others have applied for FC (Forest Clearance).
RMLs for iron ore, manganese and chromite mines under the
state-run Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) have also been listed as operating
on deemed extension along with statutory clearances. This list also includes
RML applications of firms like Tata Steel Limited and Jindal Steel &
Power Limited for iron ore, Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) for coal and
Essel Mining & Industries for iron ore and manganese.
After deliberating on the status of RMLs on a case to case
basis, the Forest & Environment Secretary asked officials to expedite the
process. However, he directed the Chief Conservator of Forest to list out the
MLs or RMLs having no applications for forest diversion proposals and take
necessary action against them, sources say.
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