THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR STEEL AND MINES (SHRI VISHNU DEO SAI)
(a) and (b): State Governments are empowered, under Section 23C of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 to make rules for prevention of illegal mining, transportation and storage of minerals. As State Governments deal with illegal mining, details regarding the revenue loss incurred are not maintained centrally in the Ministry.
However, based on the quarterly returns on illegal mining submitted by various State Governments to Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM)
(a subordinate office under the Ministry of Mines), state-wise details of instances of illegal mining reported in various parts of the country for last three years along with the details of realization of fines is given in ANNEXURE.
(c) and (d): The Government constituted the Justice M B Shah Commission of Inquiry on 22.11.2010 to inquire into the large scale illegal mining of iron and manganese ores in the country. The tenure of the Commission ended on 16.10.2013. The reports submitted by the Commission alongwith the `Memorandum of Action Taken` thereon have been placed in the Parliament.
(e): The Central Government in co-ordination with State Governments has taken the following steps to curb and check illegal mining in the Country:
(i) Regular monitoring of framing of rules by the State Governments to control illegal mining as per Section 23C of MMDR Act
(so far 20 States have framed the rules under section 23C of MMDR Act, 1957 to curb illegal mining);
(ii) Regular monitoring of setting up of Task Forces at State and District level to control illegal mining since the year 2005
(so far 23 States have reported to have constituted the Task Forces);
(iii) Regular monitoring of setting up State Coordination-cum-Empowered Committee (SCEC) to coordinate efforts to control illegal mining by including representatives of Railways, Customs and Port authorities (13 StateGovernments have set up a Coordination-cum-Empowered Committee);
(iv) Regular follow up with State Governments to adopt an Action Plan withspecific measures to detect and control illegal mining including, use of remote sensing, control on traffic, gather market intelligence, registration of end-users and setting up of special cells etc;
(v) A Central Coordination-cum-Empowered Committee set up under the Chairmanship of Secretary (Mines) on 4.3.2009 and reconstituted on 20.10.2011 holds quarterly meetings to consider all mining related issues, including matters relating to coordination of activities to combat illegal mining;
(vi) Ministry of Railways have instituted a mechanism on 16.4.2010 to allow transportation of iron ore only against permits issued rake-wise and verified by State Government, apart from taking measures to fence and set up check post at the railway sidings;
(vii) Department of Revenue (Customs) has issued instructions to all its field units to share information on iron ore exports with the State Governments;
(viii) Ministry of Shipping has directed all major Ports in the country to streamline the verification procedures for movement of iron ore, and to check whetherroyalty has been paid for the consignment;
(ix) Government has notified amendment in Rule 45 of Mineral Conservation andDevelopment Rules, 1988, on 9.2.2011 making it mandatory for all miners, traders, stockists, exporters and end-users to register with IBM and report their transaction in minerals on monthly basis for a proper end-to-end accounting of minerals; and
(x) Indian Bureau Mines has constituted Special Task Forces for inspection of mines in endemic areas by taking the help of Satellite imageries.
The Ministry has amended the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 through the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation)
Amendment Ordinance, 2015 promulgated on 12th January, 2015. In order to act as a strong deterrent to illegal mining, the amendment Ordinance has enhanced the punitive provision of punishment with imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years and with fine which may extend to five lakh rupees per hectare of the area for the offence of illegal mining. The amendment Ordinance also has a provision to enable State Governments to set up special courts for trial of offences relating to illegal mining, if felt necessary.
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