Bhubaneswar: Here’s a new worry for the miners in Odisha as the Supreme Court appointed the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) and it is expected to visit the mineral rich Joda Mining Circle of Keonjhar district in the first week of March.
According to reliable sources, the CEC is scheduled to arrive at Keonjhar on 4 Mar, 2014 and would visit the mining sites on 5 Mar & 6 Mar, 2014.
While the Shah Commission report presented in the last session of parliament concluded recently has recommended for CBI enquiry into the multi-crore mining scam in Odisha. The visit of CEC has been given utmost important by the government authorities and experts; at the same time it has spread more fears among the miners.
Apart from visiting the mines, the CEC will also verify the method of supervision of the state and central departments involved in regulation of the mining sector. The CEC visit has been ordered after a petition by Delhi based NGO ‘common cause’ in the Supreme Court on 10 Feb, 2014. In its petition the NGO has requested the Supreme Court to issue specific writs to terminate all the leases involved in illegal mining.
It may be noted that after the recommendations of the CEC, the apex court had enforced a ban on mining in Karnataka in 2011, while categorizing them according to the intensity of illegality. Now, Odisha miners fear of Karnataka like situation in the state.
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