Bhubaneswar: Ten days after the return of the Justice M.V.Shah Commission of enquiry from the state, a team consisting of officials of the mines department along with the Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) have started a field enquiry into the Joda mining Circle.
The team includes Mr S.K.Das, joint Director of mines, Ballav Chandra Nayak,DDM,Joda, pramod Behera mines surveyor the department of mine and 2 members of the IBM regional office. On Monday the team visited the already closed S.N.Mohanty mines at Unchballi of Joda Circle. On Wedneday the team inspected the Balda-Palsa-Jajang mines of OMC and Jajang mines of Rungta. It may be noted that after taking serious note of illegal mining beyond leasehold area in Odisha, the Shah Commission of enquiry had urged the state government officials and Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) to undertake joint field verification of such cases.
The state government has already constituted a committee headed by deputy director of mines to look into cases of mining outside lease area. Officials of revenue, forest and mining as well as the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) are members of the committee.
A senior official of mining department said, “In the Joda mining sector, there are cases of six lessees with boundary disputes. These cases cannot be termed as illegal mining until we verify the detailsâ€Â,
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