Lok Sabha Question No. 471 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-12-13
Subject: Cases of Illegal Mining
Ministry: MINES
Asked by: MALLIKARJUN  KHARGE, MOHANBHAI KALYANJIBHAI KUNDARIYA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF MINES

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 471 TO BE ANSWERED ON 13.12.2018

## CASES OF ILLEGAL MINING

## 471. SHRI MALLIKARJUN KHARGE: SHRI KUNDARIYA MOHAN BHAI KALYANJI BHAI:

Will the Minister of MINES be pleased to state:

(a) the number of cases of illegal mining for both major and minor minerals registered in the country during the last four years along with the action taken thereon, State/UT-wise;

(b) the names of the mining companies and their promoters/principal shareholders on which penalty has been imposed for illegal mining;

(c) the details of steps taken to stop illegal mining in the country;

(d) whether the Government proposes to constitute a Mining Authority and if so, the details thereof and the time by which it is likely to become functional; and

(e) the details of States in which Special Task Force is probing cases of illegal mining and the details of the remedial actions taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR MINES AND COAL (SHRI HARIBHAI PARTHIBHAI CHAUDHARY)

(a)to(e)        As  per  Section  23C  of  the  Mines  and  Minerals  (Development  and  Regulation), 1957  (MMDR  Act,  1957),  State  Governments  have  been  empowered  to  frame  rules  for preventing illegal mining, transportation and storage of minerals for the purposes connected therewith. Therefore, prevention and control of illegal mining comes under the legislative and administrative jurisdiction of 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 four years along with the details of action taken against the offenders/criminals is given in Annexure .

For controlling illegal mining in the country, the Central Government has, inter-alia, taken the following measures:

- (i) The  MMDR  Act,  1957  contains,  inter  alia,  punitive  provisions  for  combating  illegal mining which  were made more stringent by amendment in 2015. 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 for setting up of Special Courts for the purpose of providing speedy trial of offences relating to illegal mining are also in the Act.
- (ii) Rule  45  of  the  Mineral  Conservation  and  Development  Rules,  (MCDR)  2017,  also makes  it  mandatory  for  all  miners,  traders,  stockists,  exporters  and  end-users  of minerals to register and report on the production, trade and utilization of minerals to the State Government(s) and Indian Bureau of Mines.
- (iii) The Ministry  of  Mines  through  Indian  Bureau  of  Mines  in  association  with  the Bhaskaracharya Institute of  Space Applications &  Geo-Informatics  (BISAG),  Gujarat has developed and launched a 'Mining Surveillance System' (MSS) for major minerals to enhance the mechanism of detecting illegal mining with the use of satellite based technology.
- (iv) Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM), has entered into a MoU with National Remote Sensing Centre  (NRSC),  Hyderabad  on  21.01.2016  for  a  pilot  project  'SudoorDrishti'  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.
- (v) 22  State  Governments  have  constituted  the  Task  Force  namely,  Andhra  Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh,  Goa,  Gujarat, Haryana,  Himachal Pradesh,  Jharkhand, Karnataka,  Madhya  Pradesh,  Maharashtra,  Manipur,  Mizoram,  Nagaland,  Odisha, Punjab,  Rajasthan, Tamil  Nadu,  Uttar  Pradesh,  Uttarakhand  and West Bengal. The function of the Task force is to review the action taken by member departments for checking the illegal mining activities in their respective jurisdiction.

*****

## 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   | Illegal mining cases               | Action taken from 2013-14 to 2018-19 (Quarter ending June 2018)   | Action taken from 2013-14 to 2018-19 (Quarter ending June 2018)   | Action taken from 2013-14 to 2018-19 (Quarter ending June 2018)   | Action taken from 2013-14 to 2018-19 (Quarter ending June 2018)   |
|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Sr. No.                | State                  | *2013 -14              | *2014 - 15             | *2015 - 16             | 2016- 17               | 2017- 18               | 2018-19 (Quarter ending June 2018) | 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.                                                             | n. r.                                                             | n. r.                                                             |
| 2                      | Andhra Pradesh         | 7692                   | 9379                   | 9953                   | 9703                   | 8128                   | 1670                               | 29                                                                | 17                                                                | 296                                                               | 19248.145                                                         |
| 3                      | Assam                  | 0                      | 0                      | 0                      | n. r.                  | n. r.                  |                                    | 0                                                                 | 0                                                                 | 0                                                                 | 0                                                                 |
| 4                      | Chhattisgarh           | 3994                   | 4953                   | 5862                   | 4794                   | 4857                   | 1245                               | 2                                                                 | 25662                                                             | 1138                                                              | 4070.734                                                          |
| 5                      | Goa                    | 1                      | 0                      | 2                      | 0                      | 0                      | 0                                  | 1                                                                 | 0                                                                 | 1                                                                 | 0                                                                 |
| 6                      | Gujarat                | 5447                   | 5716                   | 6499                   | 8325                   | 7827                   | 1709                               | 444                                                               | 38                                                                | 24776                                                             | 22261.96                                                          |
| 7                      | Haryana                | 4548                   | 5333                   | 3912                   | 1345                   | 1391                   | n. r.                              | 776                                                               | 0                                                                 | 0                                                                 | 3989.202                                                          |
| 8                      | Himachal Pradesh       | n.r.                   | n. r.                  | n. r.                  | 783                    | 1753                   | n. r.                              | 0                                                                 | 331                                                               | 4                                                                 | 63.193                                                            |
| 9                      | Jammu & Kashmir        | n.r.                   | n. r.                  | n. r.                  | n. r.                  | 1485                   | n. r.                              | 0                                                                 | 0                                                                 | 1485                                                              | 15.896                                                            |
| 10                     | Jharkhand              | 901                    | 1162                   | 1645                   | 838                    | 2772                   | 824                                | 3340                                                              | 652                                                               | 6611                                                              | 2170.685                                                          |
| 11                     | Karnataka              | 8509                   | 8464                   | 9185                   | 5692                   | 4669                   | 1083                               | 2423                                                              | 552                                                               | 11792                                                             | 12543.497                                                         |
| 12                     | Kerala                 | 4448                   | 4172                   | 3701                   | 4861                   | 8315                   | 1593                               | 0                                                                 | 0                                                                 | 0                                                                 | 11728.73                                                          |
| 13                     | Madhya Pradesh         | 6725                   | 8173                   | 13627                  | 13880                  | 15205                  | 3914                               | 541                                                               | 46923                                                             | 2978                                                              | 128849.091                                                        |
| 14                     | Maharashtra            | 36476                  | 32717                  | 33621                  | 31173                  | 26628                  | 2751                               | 2228                                                              | 1                                                                 | 163366                                                            | 36502.33                                                          |
| 15                     | Mizoram                | 21                     | 26                     | n. r.                  | n. r.                  | n. r.                  | n. r.                              | 1                                                                 | 0                                                                 | 0                                                                 | 1.537                                                             |
| 16                     | Odisha                 | 76                     | 104                    | 62                     | 45                     | 47                     | 6                                  | 2                                                                 | 4                                                                 | 82                                                                | 1575.878                                                          |
| 17                     | Punjab                 | n.r.                   | n. r.                  | n. r.                  | n. r.                  | n. r.                  | n. r.                              | n. r                                                              | n. r                                                              | n. r                                                              | n. r                                                              |
| 18                     | Rajasthan              | 2953                   | 2945                   | 3661                   | 3945                   | 6632                   | 3941                               | 2954                                                              | 58                                                                | 18329                                                             | 11423.357                                                         |
| 19                     | Sikkim                 | 0                      | 0                      | 0                      | n. r.                  | n. r.                  | n. r.                              | 0                                                                 | 0                                                                 | 0                                                                 | 0                                                                 |
| 20                     | Tamilnadu              | 1078                   | 205                    | 58                     | 87                     | 132                    | 59                                 | 23481                                                             | 38                                                                | 59760                                                             | 19371.224                                                         |
| 21                     | Telangana              | -                      | 3311                   | 6538                   | 5839                   | 6143                   | 1550                               | 0                                                                 | 0                                                                 | 4                                                                 | 6507.79                                                           |
| 22                     | Uttar Pradesh          | 8718                   | 10024                  | 11575                  | 5737                   | 20214                  | n. r.                              | 1239                                                              | 4862                                                              | 0                                                                 | 13349.68                                                          |
| 23                     | West Bengal            | n.r.                   | n. r.                  | 575                    | n. r.                  | n. r.                  | n. r.                              | 1132                                                              | 0                                                                 | 218                                                               | 0                                                                 |
|                        | Grand Total            | 91587                  | 96684                  | 110476                 | 97047                  | 116198                 | 20345                              | 38593                                                             | 79138                                                             | 290840                                                            | 293672.929                                                        |

n. r. - quarterly return not received

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