Question : Illegal Mining

(a) whether inspite of various steps taken by the Union Government and the States including directions issued by the Hon’ble Supreme Court illegal mining in some States of the country is still rampant and if so, the details thereof and the reasons the reasons therefor;

(b) the instances of illegal mining which came to the notice of the Union Government during the last three years, State-wise along with the action taken to prevent such instances in future;

(c) Whether Hon’ble Supreme Court after grappling with cases pertaining to illegal mining has pulled up the Union Government for its failure to curb illegal mining in the country and asked for a comprehensive policy to curb illegal mining and if so, the reaction of the Union Government thereto;

(d) Whether the Union Government has since prepared any concrete plan to curb pilferage of natural resources and placed plans before the Hon’ble Supreme Court; and

(e) if so, the details in this regard and the steps taken by the Union Government to effectively implement the plans?

THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR MINES AND COAL (SHRI HARIBHAI PARTHIBHAI CHAUDHARY)
(a)&(b): As per section 23C of the Mines and Minerals(Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (MMDR Act), State Governments are empowered to frame rules for prevention of illegal mining, storage and transportation for both major and minor minerals and for purposes connected therewith. Therefore, matter relating to regulation and control of illegal mining is completely within the domain of respective State Governments.
However, based on the information regarding quarterly returns on illegal mining provided by State Governments to Indian Bureau of Mines (a subordinate office under the Ministry of Mines), about the instances of illegal mining, FIR lodged, Vehicle seized, fine realized for last three years is provided at Annexure.
(c): No, Madam. Hon’ble Supreme Court has not pulled up the Union Government regarding failure to curb illegal mining in the Country; However, Hon’ble Supreme Court in W.P(C) No. 202 of 1995 [T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad vs UoI] has passed an order dated 23.02.2018 on the issues of prevention of illegal mining by the States, wherein Hon’ble Supreme Court has, inter-alia, directed Union of India to file an affidavit detailing whether Central Government has any policy at all with regard to prevention of illegal mining or to take strict action against mining lease holders indulging in illegal mining.
(d): No, Madam.
(e): Does not arise in view of reply given in part (d) above.
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Annexure
ILLEGAL MINING CASES Action taken from 2013-14 to Quarter ending September – 2017
Sr.
No. State 2014 – 15
2015 – 16
2016-17

2017-18
(Quarter ending Sept – 2017) FIR Lodged (Nos.) Court Cases
Filed
(Nos.) Vehicle
Seized
(No.) Fine realized by
State Govt.
(Rs. Lakh)
1 Andaman & Nicobar n. r. n. r. n. r. n. r. n. r. n. r. n. r. n. r.
2 Andhra Pradesh 9379 9953 9703 4063 3 12 3 14323.275
3 Assam 0 0 n. r. n. r. 0 0 0 0
4 Chhattisgarh 4953 5862 4794 2227 2 21787 1138 3338.376
5 Goa 0 2 0 0 1 0 1 0
6 Gujarat 5716 6499 8325 4586 382 29 20715 15667.05
7 Haryana 5333 3912 1345 527 654 0 0 3765.03
8 Himachal Pradesh n. r. n. r. n. r. n. r. 0 0 0 0
9 Jammu & Kashmir n. r. n. r. n. r. 928 0 0 928 5.088
10 Jharkhand 1162 1645 838 204 2444 343 3132 432.87
11 Karnataka 8464 9185 5692 2830 1798 468 11497 11163.03
12 Kerala 4172 3701 4861 3017 0 0 0 8054.73
13 Madhya Pradesh 8173 13627 13880 7854 516 41299 2978 113206.21
14 Maharashtra 32717 33621 31173 10797 794 1 144784 28178.52
15 Mizoram 26 n. r. n. r. n. r. 1 0 0 1.537
16 Odisha 104 62 45 25 0 4 77 1111.407
17 Punjab n. r. n. r. n. r. n. r. n. r n. r n. r n. r
18 Rajasthan 2945 3661 3945 2025 2536 37 11248 6794.672
19 Sikkim 0 0 n. r. n. r. 0 0 0 0
20 Tamilnadu 205 58 56 48 10734 1 35166 12285.82
21 Telangana 3311 6538 5839 3203 0 0 4 5314.43
22 Uttar Pradesh 10024 11575 5737 n. r. 562 439 0 9333.57
23 West Bengal n. r. 575 n. r. n. r. 1132 0 218 0
Grand Total 96684 110476 96233 42334 21559 64420 231889 232975.615

[n.r. quarterly return not received ]
[Source: Indian Bureau of Mines]