(a) whether a lot of illegal mining of iron and manganese ore has taken place in the country during the last three years;
(b) if so, the details thereof, State-wise; and
(c) the steps/measures taken by the Government for controlling this illegal mining?
(a) to (b) As per section 23C of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) (MMDR) Act, 1957, state governments have been empowered to make rules for preventing illegal mining, transportation and storage of minerals. Specific details related to illegal mining of iron and manganese ore are not maintained centrally.
However based on the quarterly returns on illegal mining submitted by various state governments to Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) (a subordinate office of the Ministry), details of instances of illegal mining (both major minerals and minor minerals) reported in various parts of the Country and the action taken by State Governments, for the last three years i.e. 2013-14 to 2015-16(Quarter ending December 2015) are at Annexure-I to Annexure-III.
To check the illegal mining in the respective states, 22 State Governments have constituted the task force and 20 State Governments have framed rules under section 23C of MMDR Act, 1957 to curb illegal mining.
(c) For controlling illegal mining in the country, the Central Government inter-alia has taken following measures:
1. The MMDR Act, 1957 was amended through the MMDR Amendment Act, 2015 which came into effect from 12th January, 2015. The Amendment Act has, inter alia, stringent punitive provisions for combating illegal mining. Illegal mining has been made punishable 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. Provisions have been made for setting up of Special Courts for the purpose of providing speedy trial of offences relating to illegal mining.
2. The Central Government amended Rule 45 of the Mineral Conservation and Development Rules, 1988, making it mandatory for all miners, traders, stockists, exporters and end-users to register with the Indian Bureau of Mines and report on tracking the movement of minerals to Indian Bureau of Mines and State Government as one of the measures to combat illegal mining.
3. Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM), has entered into a MoU with National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), for a pilot project “Sudoor Drushti” to demonstrate the feasibility of using High Resolution Satellite imagery and Digital Elevation Model (DEM) in monitoring mining activities / changes over a period of time over selected group of mines.
4. The Ministry of Mines also have engaged the services of Bhaskaracharya Institute of Space Applications & Geo-Informatics (BISAG), Gujarat to develop a ‘Mine Surveillance System’(MSS) for major minerals in consultation with Indian Bureau of Mines to enhance the mechanism of detecting illegal mining with the use of satellite based technology.