Lok Sabha Question No. 1363 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-07-25
Subject: Pilferage of Coal
Ministry: COAL
Asked by: SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE, BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO, KUNWAR HARIBANSH SINGH, GAJANAN CHANDRAKANT KIRTIKAR, SUDHEER GUPTA, VIJAY KUMAR S.R., S. RAJENDRAN, J. JAYASINGH THIYAGARAJ NATTERJEE, T. RADHAKRISHNAN, SUMEDHANAND SARASWATI, SANTOSH AHLAWAT, RANGASWAMY DHRUVANARAYANA, OM PRAKASH YADAV

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COAL

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1363 TO BE ANSWERED ON 25.07.2018

## Pilferage of Coal

## 1363. DR. SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE:

SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO:

KUNWAR HARIBANSH SINGH:

SHRI GAJANAN KIRTIKAR:

SHRI SUDHEER GUPTA:

SHRI S.R. VIJAYAKUMAR:

SHRI S. RAJENDRAN:

SHRI J.J.T. NATTERJEE:

SHRI T. RADHAKRISHNAN:

SHRI SUMEDHANAND SARSWATI:

SHRIMATI SANTOSH AHLAWAT:

SHRI R. DHRUVA NARAYANA:

SHRI OM PRAKASH YADAV:

Will the Minister of COAL be pleased to state:

- (a)        whether incidents of illegal coal mining and coal pilferage are increasing day by day;
- (b)        if so, the number of such incidents reported during the last six months, State- wise;
- (c)        whether  the  Government  has  conducted  any  survey  to  find  out  quantum  of  revenue losses due to coal pilferage every year and if so, the details of the survey;
- (d)       whether alleged involvement of some of the security personnel and officers of various companies have come to the notice of the Government and if so, the details thereof along with the action taken by the Government in this regard;
- (e)       whether  the  Union  Government  has  launched  the  Coal  Mine  Surveillance  and Management  System  (CMSMS)  and  mobile  application  'Khan  Prahari'  to  monitor unauthorised activities and if so, the details along with the features and the objectives thereof;
- (f)        whether  there  is  a  need  for  spreading  greater  awareness  about  the  App  among  the workers  of  coal  India  subsidiaries  and  the  common  man  so  that  illegal  mining activities could be stopped;
- (g)       if so, the steps taken or proposed to be taken by the Union Government in this regard and
- (h)       the other steps taken by the Union Government to curb the illegal coal mining?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COAL, FINANCE AND CORPORATE AFFAIRS (SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

(a)  to  (d):            Law  &  Order  is  a  State  subject,  hence  primarily;  it  is  the  responsibility  of  the State/District administration to take necessary deterrent action to stop/curb illegal mining of coal. As informed by Coal India Ltd., it is not possible to specify the exact quantum of coal stolen and losses incurred on account of theft / pilferage and illegal mining of coal, however, as per raids conducted by security personnel of CIL as well as joint raids with the law and order authorities of  the  concerned  State  Government,  the  quantity  of  coal  recovered  and  its  approximate  value during the last three years are as under:

## THEFT/PILFERAGE OF COAL- SUBSIDIARYWISE AND STATE-WISE

| Co.        | State        | 2015-16                | 2015-16                | 2016-17             | 2016-17                  | 2017-18 (Provisional)   | 2017-18 (Provisional)    |
|------------|--------------|------------------------|------------------------|---------------------|--------------------------|-------------------------|--------------------------|
| Co.        | State        | Qty. Recovered Approx. | Qty. Recovered Approx. | Qty. Recovered (te) | Approx. Value (Rs. Lakh) | Qty. Recovered (te)     | Approx. Value (Rs. Lakh) |
| Co.        | State        | (te)                   | Value (Rs. Lakh)       | Qty. Recovered (te) | Approx. Value (Rs. Lakh) | Qty. Recovered (te)     | Approx. Value (Rs. Lakh) |
| ECL        | WB           | 4993.27                | 249.670                | 7804.76             | 390.230                  | 8667.24                 | 433.362                  |
|            | Jharkhand    | 2645.78                | 132.320                | 3500.66             | 175.030                  | 2346.53                 | 117.327                  |
|            |              | 7639.05                | 381.990                | 11305.42            | 565.260                  | 11013.77                | 550.689                  |
| BCCL       | Jharkhand    | 12071.40               | 529.670                | 12718.85            | 549.604                  | 5093.34                 | 199.113                  |
|            | WB           | 445.84                 | 20.544                 | 810.44              | 33.601                   | 537.35                  | 20.198                   |
|            |              | 12517.24               | 550.214                | 13529.29            | 583.206                  | 5630.69                 | 219.311                  |
| CCL        | Jharkhand    | 99.00                  | 1.050                  | 147.00              | 1.470                    | 539.97                  | 15.791                   |
| NCL        | MP           | 0.00                   | 0.000                  | 0.00                | 0.000                    | 0.00                    | 0.000                    |
|            | UP           | 0.00                   | 0.000                  | 3.00                | 0.042                    | 0.00                    | 0.000                    |
|            |              | 0.00                   | 0.000                  | 3.00                | 0.042                    | 0.00                    | 0.000                    |
| WCL        | Maharashtra  | 53.00                  | 1.120                  | 225.15              | 5.420                    | 261.96                  | 7.634                    |
|            | MP           | 0.00                   | 0.000                  | 3.00                | 0.180                    | 0.00                    | 0.000                    |
|            |              | 53.00                  | 1.120                  | 228.15              | 5.600                    | 261.96                  | 7.634                    |
| SECL       | MP           | 0.00                   | 0.000                  | 3.50                | 0.140                    | 26.00                   | 0.570                    |
|            | Chhattisgarh | 57.50                  | 2.105                  | 25.00               | 1.500                    | 38.00                   | 0.770                    |
|            |              | 57.50                  | 2.105                  | 28.50               | 1.640                    | 64.00                   | 1.340                    |
| MCL        | Orissa       | 63.10                  | 0.631                  | 57.80               | 0.380                    | 92.53                   | 0.925                    |
| NEC        | Assam        | 0.00                   | 0.000                  | 0.00                | 0.000                    | 0.00                    | 0.000                    |
| Coal India |              | 20428.89               | 937.110                | 25296.16            | 1157.556                 | 17602.92                | 795.690                  |

The numbers of  such incidents reported during the last six months are 05 (01 in SECL & 04 in CCL). The details of involvement of some of the security personnel and officers of various companies are as under:-

SECL :  In  the  incident  of  coal  pilferage  at  Chirimiri  OCP  during  the  last  six  months i.e.  from 01/01/2018 to  30/06/2018,  investigation  has  been  conducted  by  the  Vigilance  department  and gross violation of Standard Operating Procedure resulting in coal pilferage has been observed. Accordingly  Regular  Disciplinary  Action  under  major  penalty  against  one  executive  and Disciplinary proceeding against one Wage Board employee has been taken up.

CCL: In  case  no.  RDS-04/2016  Dt.  19.01.16,  charge  sheet  has  been  issued  to  the  then  Head Security Guard/Security Incharge, Jharkhand Colliery, HB Area by the Disciplinary Authority on 31.01.2016. After completion of Departmental Inquiry, the official has been dismissed  from the services of the company on 19.06.2017.

(e) to (g):         Coal Mine Surveillance and Management System (CMSMS) and 'Khan Prahari' App have been launched on 4 th July  2018  to  monitor  unauthorized coal mining activities. The Coal Mine Surveillance & Management System (CMSMS) is a web based application which can be  used  to  detect,  monitor  and  take  action  on  any  kind  of  illegal  coal  mining  activities  being carried  on  within  the  leasehold  boundaries  in  the  coalfield  areas.  During  the  launching  on

04.07.2018,  the   print  &  electronic  media  were  invited  to  spread  greater  awareness  about  the App.

Salient  features  of  CMSMS :  It  uses  the  platform  of  National  Centre  of  Geo-Informatics (NCoG), which is a Platform of Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeiTY). On this  platform, Village level GIS map of India is already available which are being used for egovernance  applications  of  various  government  departments.  Coal  mining  related  information has  been  provided  in  the  form  of  layers.  Presently  the   layers   available  on  this  system  areCoalfield  Boundaries,  Boundaries  of  geological  Coal  blocks  (CIL  and  SCCL),  Leasehold Boundaries and Information/report of land reclamation.

Illegal coal mining activity can be detected in 2 ways:

-  Through scanning of satellite data - This will be done at CMPDI wherein satellite data will be scanned to detect any coal mining activity which is extending outside the authorised leasehold area.
-  Through report by citizens by 'Khan Prahari' Mobile application - Any citizen can report any illegal coal mining activity through the  mobile app in the form of textual or  geotagged photographs.

Reports generated through the above sources will be automatically forwarded to Nodal Officers who  have  been  nominated  by  CIL/SCCL  as  well  as  various  State  Governments.  The  Nodal Officers  will  verify  the  reported  activity  and  take  action  like  filing  a  police  report  for  taking action as per law or informing the law enforcing agencies.The action taken will also be fed into the system so that any person can see the status of his complaint though the complaint tracking system in the CMSMS.The identity of the complainant shall not be revealed.

(h): Law & Order is a State subject, hence primarily; it is the responsibility of the State/District administration to take necessary deterrent action to stop/curb illegal mining of coal. However, following suitable steps are being taken by the coal companies to check such incidents :

- a. Rat holes created by illegal mining are regularly dozed off and filled up with  stone and debris wherever possible.
- b. Concrete walls have been erected on the mouth of the abandoned mines to prevent access and illegal activities in these areas.
- c. Surprise raids/checks being conducted jointly by security personnel and law and order authorities of the concerned State Government.
- d. Fencing is being constructed at the various illegal mining sites along with displaying of signboards mentioning 'Dangerous and Prohibited Place.'
- e. Dumping of the overburden is being done on the outcrop zones.
- f. Collection of intelligence reports about illegal coal depots and illegal movement of coal and informing district authorities of the same for taking preventive action.
- g. Installation of check-posts at vulnerable points.
- h. Training of existing security/CISF personnel, refresher training and basic training of new recruits in security discipline for strengthening the security setup;
- i. Close liaison with the State authorities.
- j. Committee/task force has been constituted at different level (block level, sub-divisional level, district level, state level) in some subsidiaries of CIL to monitor different aspects of illegal mining.
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