Lok Sabha Question No. 144 (STARRED), answered on 2017-12-28
Subject: Illegal Mining
Ministry: MINES
Asked by: VIKRAM USENDI, HARIOM SINGH RATHORE

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF MINES

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *144 TO BE ANSWERED ON 28 th  December, 2017

## 'Illegal Mining'

## *144.  SHRI VIKRAM USENDI: SHRI HARIOM SINGH RATHORE:

Will the Minister of MINES be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether the Government has taken cognisance of illegal mining of minerals especially sand in various States in the country;
- (b) if so, the details thereof along with location of illegal mining, State-wise;
- (c) whether the Government has taken / is taking any steps to stop such illegal mining and if so, the details thereof; and
- (d) whether the Government has constituted any high powered committee to check the illegal mining and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF MINES (SHRI NARENDRA SINGH TOMAR)

(a) to(d): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 144 REGARDING ILLEGAL MINING RAISED BY SHRI VIKRAM USENDI AND SHRI HARIOM SINGH RATHORE, HON'BLE MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT FOR REPLY ON 28.12.2017.

- (a) & (b):  As per section 23C of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957  (MMDR  Act),  State  Governments  have  complete  powers  to  make  rules  for prevention  of  illegal  mining  for  both  major  and  minor  minerals  and  for  purposes connected therewith.

Sand  is  a  minor  mineral,  as  defined  under  section  3(e)  of  MMDR  Act,  1957. Further, section 15 of the MMDR Act empowers the State Governments for making rules for regulation of the grant of quarry leases, mining leases or other mineral concessions in  respect  of  minor  minerals  and  for  purposes  connected  therewith.    Therefore,  the administration  of  mining  of  minor  minerals  is  completely  within  the  domain  of  the respective State Governments.

However,  based  on  the  quarterly  returns  on  illegal  mining  submitted  by  various State Governments to Indian Bureau of Mines (a subordinate office under the Ministry of Mines), state-wise details of instances of illegal mining reported for the last three years alongwith the details of action taken against the offenders is given at Annexure .

- (c) :  For controlling illegal mining in the country, the Central Government has, inter-alia, taken the following steps:
- (i) The MMDR Act, 1957 was amended with effect from  12 th January,  2015  to bring  in  stringent  enhanced  punitive  provisions  under  the  Section  21  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 illegally mined area.
- (ii)  The Central Government has amended Rule 45 of the Mineral Conservation and Development Rules, (MCDR), 2017, making it mandatory for all miners, traders, stockiest, exporters and end-users to register with IBM.

- (iii) The Ministry  of  Mines,  through  IBM  in  association  with  the  Bhaskaracharya Institute of Space Application & Geo-Informatics (BISAG), has developed and launched  the  Mining  Surveillance  System  (MSS)  for  major  minerals  to enhance the mechanism of detecting illegal  mining  with  the  use  of  satellite based  technology.    Under  the  MSS,  the  lease  areas  are  superimposed  on Satellite  imagery  and  excavation  activities  within  500m  buffer  zone  are monitored.    If  any  excavation  within  this  buffer  zone  is  observed,  then  the same is flagged off as trigger and sent to respective State Governments for its field  verification.    The  ministry  has  organized  training  programmes  for  the officials  of  the  State  Governments for  adopting  the  MSS.    States  have  also been advised to explore  the  application  of  MSS  for  minor  minerals.    In  the initial phase, 296 such triggers have been generated across the country and sent  to  the  respective  State  Governments  for  the  field  verification  of  these triggers.  Out of the 296 triggers, the respective State Governments verified 286 triggers.  Out of these 286 triggers, in 48 cases, unauthorized mining has been detected / confirmed.
- (d)  :      No, madam.

****

## Annexure

## Statement showing Year wise State wise Cases of Illegal Mining for Major & Minor Minerals.

| Illegal mining cases   | Illegal mining cases   | Illegal mining cases   | Illegal mining cases   | Illegal mining cases   | Illegal mining cases   | Illegal mining cases                            | Action taken from 2013-14 to 2017-18 (Up to Quarter ending Sept. - 2017)   | Action taken from 2013-14 to 2017-18 (Up to Quarter ending Sept. - 2017)   | Action taken from 2013-14 to 2017-18 (Up to Quarter ending Sept. - 2017)   | Action taken from 2013-14 to 2017-18 (Up to Quarter ending Sept. - 2017)   |
|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|-------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Sr. No.                | State                  | 2013 - 14              | 2014 - 15              | 2015 - 16              | 2016 - 17              | 2017-18 (Cum. up to Quarter ending Sept.- 2017) | FIR Lodged (Nos.)                                                          | Court Cases Filed (Nos.)                                                   | Vehicle Seized (No.)                                                       | Fine realized by State Govt. (Rs. Lakh)                                    |
| 1                      | Andhra Pradesh         | 7692                   | 9379                   | 9953                   | 9703                   | 4063                                            | 3                                                                          | 12                                                                         | 3                                                                          | 14323.275                                                                  |
| 2                      | Chhattisgarh           | 3994                   | 4953                   | 5862                   | 4794                   | 2227                                            | 2                                                                          | 21787                                                                      | 1138                                                                       | 3338.376                                                                   |
| 3                      | Goa                    | 1                      | 0                      | 2                      | 0                      | 0                                               | 1                                                                          | 0                                                                          | 1                                                                          | 0                                                                          |
| 4                      | Gujarat                | 5447                   | 5716                   | 6499                   | 8325                   | 4586                                            | 382                                                                        | 29                                                                         | 20715                                                                      | 15667.05                                                                   |
| 5                      | Haryana                | 4548                   | 5333                   | 3912                   | 1345                   | 527                                             | 654                                                                        | 0                                                                          | 0                                                                          | 3765.03                                                                    |
| 6                      | Jharkhand              | 901                    | 1162                   | 1645                   | 694                    | 204                                             | 2335                                                                       | 343                                                                        | 3048                                                                       | 389.74                                                                     |
| 7                      | Karnataka              | 8509                   | 8464                   | 9185                   | 5692                   | 2830                                            | 1798                                                                       | 468                                                                        | 11497                                                                      | 11163.03                                                                   |
| 8                      | Kerala                 | 4448                   | 4172                   | 3701                   | 4861                   | 3017                                            | 0                                                                          | 0                                                                          | 0                                                                          | 8054.73                                                                    |
| 9                      | Madhya Pradesh         | 6725                   | 8173                   | 13627                  | 13880                  | 7854                                            | 516                                                                        | 41299                                                                      | 2978                                                                       | 113206.21                                                                  |
| 10                     | Maharashtra            | 36476                  | 32717                  | 33621                  | 31173                  | 10797                                           | 794                                                                        | 1                                                                          | 144784                                                                     | 28178.52                                                                   |
| 11                     | Mizoram                | 21                     | 26                     | n. r.                  | n. r.                  | n. r.                                           | 1                                                                          | 0                                                                          | 0                                                                          | 1.537                                                                      |
| 12                     | Odisha                 | 76                     | 104                    | 62                     | 45                     | 25                                              | 0                                                                          | 4                                                                          | 77                                                                         | 1111.407                                                                   |
| 13                     | Rajasthan              | 2953                   | 2945                   | 3661                   | 3945                   | 2025                                            | 2536                                                                       | 37                                                                         | 11248                                                                      | 6794.672                                                                   |
| 14                     | Tamilnadu              | 1078                   | 205                    | 58                     | 56                     | n. r                                            | 10734                                                                      | 1                                                                          | 35166                                                                      | 12285.82                                                                   |
| 15                     | Telangana              | -                      | 3311                   | 6538                   | 5839                   | 3203                                            | 0                                                                          | 0                                                                          | 4                                                                          | 5314.43                                                                    |
| 16                     | Uttar Pradesh          | 8718                   | 10024                  | 11575                  | 5737                   | n. r.                                           | 562                                                                        | 439                                                                        | 0                                                                          | 9333.57                                                                    |
| 17                     | West Bengal            | n. r.                  | n. r.                  | 575                    | n. r.                  | n. r.                                           | 1132                                                                       | 0                                                                          | 218                                                                        | 0                                                                          |
| Grand Total            | Grand Total            | 91587                  | 96684                  | 110476                 | 96089                  | 41358                                           | 21450                                                                      | 64420                                                                      | 230877                                                                     | 232927.397                                                                 |

n. r.* (not reported by the State Government)