Bhubaneswar: A two member team of Justice M.B.Shah Commission is coming Odisha today to check the authenticity of the ongoing survey and demarcation work for 44 mining leases in the state.
In this visit, the probe panel is represented by Bishwajeet Mishra, conservator of forests (Karnataka) and Janardan Prasad, senior geologist, Gujarat unit of Geological Survey of India.
The panel members are scheduled to visit Barbil sector on May 24 and mine areas in Keonjhar and Sundergarh districts on May 25-26.
On May 27, the commission members will check the mine map generation procedure at the laboratory of Odisha Space Application Centre (ORSAC) and also deliberate with top state government officials.
“The members of the Shah commission are visiting the state to check the survey and demarcation work going on for mine leases.
After field visit, the panel members will have a wrap-up meeting with us on Mondayâ€Â, said steel & mines secretary Rajesh Verma.
The state government had recently completed its field probe taken up by an inter-departmental team to detect presence of mining operations beyond leasehold area.
While the field survey at various sites in iron ore rich Keonjhar district has found some old and abandoned pits, no major irregularities have been detected.
The field verification was carried out by members of the state level enforcement squad, deputy directors of mines, mining officers and forest officials.
It may be noted that several lessees had raised question on the authenticity of Differential Geographical Positioning System (DGPS), which was used for demarcation of mining lease boundaries in Odisha, before the Justice M B Shah Commission inquiring large scale irregularities in iron ore and manganese mines.
Various mining companies had argued that the DGPS map prepared by the State Government using the Google Earth Image and based on the figures of the Base Map prepared manually way back in the 1960s was not correct.
Accordingly, the Justice M B Shah Commission during the hearing in February, 2013, had allowed physical verification of 44 leasehold areas, said official sources.
The Department of Steel & Mines (DoSM) has constituted five teams to go in for physical verification of these mines.
Till date, the physical verification of 19 mines is complete while data analysis of these mines and file verification of another five mines is going on, said a senior official of the DoSM.
Physical verification of 12 out of the 20 left out mines will be taken up soon when eight lessees have not yet deposited the required amount with the State Government, said the official.
This type of verification of mines were allowed for the mines, the owners of which came forward to bear the cost of a fresh survey at the rate of Rs.2 lakh per square kilometer of the mining area, revealed the official.
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