Bhubaneswar:
The hon’ble Odisha high court has directed the state Odisha Steel and mines
department to clear pending mining lease renewal (RML) applications within 3
months. If there is any defect in the application, department would issue
notice to the concerned party, and if the party do not provides any
satisfactory response to the notice, the lease should be cancelled, the court said while hearing the PIL filed by
environmental activist Biswajit Mohanty.
However,
the court has refused to put a stay on the mines operating under the deemed
extension clause
Two days back the high court bench
constituting of Chief justice V.Gopalagauda and justice B.N.Mohapata had already
put interim stay on further renewal of mining leases under the provisions of clause (Rules 24-A (6)) of Mineral Concession
Rules-1960.
While the petitioner Mr
Mohanty claimed that more than 215 mines are operating under the deemed extension,
the state government says there are only 54 such mines.
In his petition the activist had complained that large scale
illegal mining has been carried out misusing the provisions of clause (Rules
24-A (6)) of Mineral Concession Rules-1960, which says that if a lease holder
has applied well before the expiry of its lease and the government has not
undertaken any decision on the application, the lease period would get deemed
extension. Under the garb of this rule as many as 15 mines are operating for
the last 20 years. Similarly 215 mines operating for more than 5 years under
deemed extension.
Reported by Tapan Moharana
Leave a Reply