MINISTER OF STATE FOR COAL (SHRI PRATIK PRAKASH BAPU PATIL)
(a)& (b) : Illegal mining of coal are carried out stealthily and
clandestinely. As such, it is not possible to specify the exact number
of incidences, quantum of coal stolen and losses incurred on account
of illegal mining of coal. However, as per raids conducted by security
personnel as well as joint raids with the law and order authorities of
the concerned State Government, the quantity of coal recovered and its
approximate value during the last year and current year upto June, 2012
are as under :-
Company State 2011-12 2012-2013 upto June’2012 Qty. Approx Qty. Approx. Recovered Value Recovered Value (te) (Rs.Lakh) (Te) (Rs. Lakh)
Eastern W. Bengal 644.00 12.880 0.00 0.000
Coalfields Jharkhand 23.42 0.468 0.00 0.000
Limited
Bharat Jharkhand 1182.30 23.918 227.73 4.558
Coking Coal W. Bengal 0.00 0.000 0.00 0.000
Limited
Central Jharkhand 62.00 0.620 0.00 0.000
Coalfields
Ltd.
Northern Uttar Pradesh/ 0.00 0.000 0.00 0.000
Coalfields Madhya Pradesh
Ltd.
Western Maharashtra 0.00 0.000 0.00 0.000
Coalfields Madhya Pradesh 0.00 0.000 0.00 0.000
Limited
South Eastern Madhya Pradesh/ 0.00 0.000 0.00 0.000
Coalfields ChhatishGarh
Ltd.
Mahanadi Orissa 0.00 0.000 0.00 0.000
Coalfields
Ltd
North-Eastern Assam 203.86 9.930 0.00 0.000
Coalfields
Coal India 2115.58 47.817 227.73 4.558
Limited
(c) Law and Order is a State subject, hence primarily it is the responsibility
of the State/District Administration to take necessary deterrent action to stop/curb
illegal mining. However, the Government has taken the following steps to stop / curb
illegal mining:
(i) Based on the decisions taken in the meeting held on 17.05.2005 between
Secretary (Coal) and Chief Secretary (Jharkhand), Central Coalfields Ltd. (CCL) and
Bharat Coking Coal Ltd. (BCCL) have taken up action to check illegal mining. Joint
action for prevention of illegal mining has been initiated by the management of coal
companies and District Administration. Government of Jharkhand has constituted State
as well as District level Task Forces for this purpose.
(ii) Minister of State (I/C) for Coal also had meetings with the Chief Minister,
West Bengal on 24.06.2009 and with His Excellency, the Governor of Jharkhand on
26.05.2009 to request the concerned State Governments to check/curb the illegal
mining activities under their respective States.
(iii) Chief Secretaries of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh,
Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal were requested on 1.12.2011to frame
rules and set up an Inter-State Joint Intelligence and Action force to combat the
problem of illegal mining and for having better coordination.
(iv) The Secretary (Coal) has written to the Chief Secretaries, Chairman, CIL
and CMDs of all subsidiary companies vide letters dated 7.9.2009, 1.12.2011 &
11.9.2012 of the coal producing States requesting them to put in place effective
mechanism to check illegal mining. The States were also asked to give appropriate
direction to the concerned authorities to take effective steps to check such illegal
activities at places where large scale illegal mining was believed to be taken place.
The State Governments were also advised to consider framing of suitable Rules, if
not already done under the provisions of the Mines and Minerals (Development and
Regulation) Act, 1957 to strengthen the hands of District authorities in curbing
such illegal activities.
