Lok Sabha Question No. 2631 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-08-02
Subject: Illegal Mining of Minerals
Ministry: MINES
Asked by: KANWAR SINGH TANWAR

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF MINES

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2631 TO BE ANSWERED ON 02.08.2018

## ILLEGAL MINING OF MINERALS

## 2631. SHRI KANWAR SINGH TANWAR:

Will the Minister of MINES be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  Government  has  taken  cognizance  of  illegal  mining  of  minerals especially sand in various States of the country during the last three years and the current year;
- (b)  if so, the details thereof, State/ location-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 STATE FOR MINES (SHRI HARIBHAI PARTHIBHAI CHAUDHARY)

(a)to(c):  Sand  is  a  minor  mineral,  as  defined  under  section  3(e)  of  the  Mines  and Minerals  (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (MMDR Act). Section 15 of the MMDR Act completely devolves upon 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. Further, as per section 23C of the MMDR Act, 1957, State Governments have complete powers to make rules for preventing illegal mining, transportation and storage of minerals and for the purposes connected therewith in the State.  Therefore, the administration of mining  of  minor  minerals  including  sand  is  a  subject  that  is  completely  within  the domain of the respective State Governments.

However, based on the information received from the State Governments in the quarterly returns on illegal mining submitted to Indian Bureau of Mines, details of instances of illegal mining for both major and minor minerals including sand reported for the last three years along with the details of action taken against the offenders is at Annexure .

To strengthen the States in curbing the illegal Mining, the Central Government, inter-alia , has taken the following measures:

- (i)  The MMDR Act, 1957 was amended with effect from 12.01.2015, which has made the penalty and punishment provisions for illegal mining very stringent. 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.
- (ii)  The  Rule  45  of  Mineral  Conservation  and  Development  Rules  has  been amended to provide for the mining companies to provide periodic reports on the production, trade and utilization of minerals to the State Government and IBM  on  daily  /  monthly  /yearly  basis  for  a  proper  end-to-end  accounting  of minerals diminishing the scope for illegal mining, royalty evasion, etc.
- (iii)  The  Ministry  of  Mines,  through  IBM  has  developed  the  Mining  Surveillance System (MSS), to use space technology for facilitating State Governments in curbing  illegal  mining  activities  in  the  country.  MSS  is  a  satellite-based monitoring  system  which  aims  to  establish  a  regime  of  responsive  mineral administration, through public participation, by facilitating State Governments in curbing instances of illegal mining.
- (iv)  In the meeting of mining minister on 04 th May, 2017, the States raised several issues of sand mining in regard to environmental degradation, non-availability of  sand,  high  sand  prices,  illegalities  in  sand  mining,  etc.  To  address  this issue,  a  committee  chaired  by  the  Union  Secretary,  Ministry  of  Mines  also comprising of officials of State Governments had been constituted to study the existing  system  of  sand  mining  in  various  states  and  to  submit  a  report.  A 'Sand  Mining  Framework'  has  been  prepared  and  circulated  to  the  States. The  'Sand  Mining  Framework'  is  a  compilation  of  best  practices  and  is suggestive  in  nature  for  consideration  of  adoption  by  States  while  framing their rules and administrative setup, as per their objectives, endowments and state deployment of resources.
- (d): No, Madam.

******

## Annexure

| Number of Illegal mining cases for major and minor minerals   | Number of Illegal mining cases for major and minor minerals   | Number of Illegal mining cases for major and minor minerals   | Number of Illegal mining cases for major and minor minerals   | Number of Illegal mining cases for major and minor minerals   | Number of Illegal mining cases for major and minor minerals   | Number of Illegal mining cases for major and minor minerals   | Action taken from 2013-14 to 2017-18 (Up to Quarter ending December - 2017)   | Action taken from 2013-14 to 2017-18 (Up to Quarter ending December - 2017)   | Action taken from 2013-14 to 2017-18 (Up to Quarter ending December - 2017)   | Action taken from 2013-14 to 2017-18 (Up to Quarter ending December - 2017)   |
|---------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Sr. No .                                                      | State                                                         | 2013 - 14                                                     | 2014 - 15                                                     | 2015 - 16                                                     | 2016 -17                                                      | 2017-18 (Quarter ending December - 2017)                      | FIR Lodged (Nos.)                                                             | Court Cases Filed (Nos.)                                                      | Vehicl e Seized (No.)                                                         | Fine realized by State Govt. (Rs. Lakh)                                       |
| 1                                                             | Andhra Pradesh                                                | 7692                                                          | 9379                                                          | 9953                                                          | 9703                                                          | 6269                                                          | 22                                                                            | 12                                                                            | 9                                                                             | 15047.738                                                                     |
| 2                                                             | Chhattisgarh                                                  | 3994                                                          | 4953                                                          | 5862                                                          | 4794                                                          | 3427                                                          | 2                                                                             | 22987                                                                         | 1138                                                                          | 4004.317                                                                      |
| 3                                                             | Goa                                                           | 1                                                             | 0                                                             | 2                                                             | 0                                                             | 0                                                             | 1                                                                             | 0                                                                             | 1                                                                             | 0                                                                             |
| 4                                                             | Gujarat                                                       | 5447                                                          | 5716                                                          | 6499                                                          | 8325                                                          | 6069                                                          | 394                                                                           | 29                                                                            | 21963                                                                         | 17080.11                                                                      |
| 5                                                             | Haryana                                                       | 4548                                                          | 5333                                                          | 3912                                                          | 1345                                                          | 923                                                           | 656                                                                           | 0                                                                             | 0                                                                             | 3876.213                                                                      |
| 6                                                             | Himachal Pradesh                                              | n.r.                                                          | n. r.                                                         | n. r.                                                         | 783                                                           | 1753                                                          | 0                                                                             | 331                                                                           | 4                                                                             | 63.166                                                                        |
| 7                                                             | Jammu & Kashmir                                               | n.r.                                                          | n. r.                                                         | n. r.                                                         | n. r.                                                         | 1485                                                          | 0                                                                             | 0                                                                             | 1485                                                                          | 15.896                                                                        |
| 8                                                             | Jharkhand                                                     | 901                                                           | 1162                                                          | 1645                                                          | 838                                                           | 1573                                                          | 2939                                                                          | 481                                                                           | 4396                                                                          | 542.65                                                                        |
| 9                                                             | Karnataka                                                     | 8509                                                          | 8464                                                          | 9185                                                          | 5692                                                          | 4020                                                          | 1888                                                                          | 468                                                                           | 11597                                                                         | 11649.30                                                                      |
| 10                                                            | Kerala                                                        | 4448                                                          | 4172                                                          | 3701                                                          | 4861                                                          | 5721                                                          | 0                                                                             | 0                                                                             | 0                                                                             | 9204.43                                                                       |
| 11                                                            | Madhya Pradesh                                                | 6725                                                          | 8173                                                          | 13627                                                         | 13880                                                         | 11619                                                         | 516                                                                           | 42942                                                                         | 2978                                                                          | 115077.685                                                                    |
| 12                                                            | Maharashtra                                                   | 36476                                                         | 32717                                                         | 33621                                                         | 31173                                                         | 18974                                                         | 1329                                                                          | 1                                                                             | 163758                                                                        | 31058.05                                                                      |
| 13                                                            | Mizoram                                                       | 21                                                            | 26                                                            | n. r.                                                         | n. r.                                                         | n. r.                                                         | 1                                                                             | 0                                                                             | 0                                                                             | 1.537                                                                         |
| 14                                                            | Odisha                                                        | 76                                                            | 104                                                           | 62                                                            | 45                                                            | 36                                                            | 0                                                                             | 4                                                                             | 79                                                                            | 1181.292                                                                      |
| 15                                                            | Rajasthan                                                     | 2953                                                          | 2945                                                          | 3661                                                          | 3945                                                          | 3622                                                          | 2584                                                                          | 41                                                                            | 11695                                                                         | 7772.346                                                                      |
| 16                                                            | Tamilnadu                                                     | 1078                                                          | 205                                                           | 58                                                            | 87                                                            | 48                                                            | 15297                                                                         | 16                                                                            | 45905                                                                         | 15477.082                                                                     |
| 17                                                            | Telangana                                                     | -                                                             | 3311                                                          | 6538                                                          | 5839                                                          | 4593                                                          | 0                                                                             | 0                                                                             | 4                                                                             | 5315.61                                                                       |
| 18                                                            | Uttar Pradesh                                                 | 8718                                                          | 1002 4                                                        | 11575                                                         | 5737                                                          | 6949                                                          | 1474                                                                          | 3889                                                                          | 0                                                                             | 10718.11                                                                      |
| 19                                                            | West Bengal                                                   | n.r.                                                          | n. r.                                                         | 575                                                           | n. r.                                                         | n. r.                                                         | 1132                                                                          | 0                                                                             | 218                                                                           | 0                                                                             |
| Grand Total                                                   | Grand Total                                                   | 91587                                                         | 96684                                                         | 110476                                                        | 97047                                                         | 77081                                                         | 28235                                                                         | 71201                                                                         | 265230                                                                        | 248085.532                                                                    |

n.r* (not reported by State Government) Source: Indian Bureau of Mines