Lok Sabha Question No. 134 (STARRED), answered on 2021-02-10
Subject: Illegel Mining
Ministry: MINES
Asked by: Jayant Sinha

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF MINES

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *134

ANSWERED ON 10.02.2021

## ILLEGEL MINING

- *134. SHRI JAYANT SINHA:
- Will the Minister of MINES be pleased to state: (a) the  steps  taken  by  his  Ministry  to  identify  and  curb  illegal  mining  in  the country; (b) the details of the manner in which the Ministry plans to use Space Technology in this regard; and (c) the achievements made under all such initiatives, especially in Jharkhand?

## ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF MINES, COAL AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (SHRI PRALHAD JOSHI)

- (a) to (c) A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT  REFERRED  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (c)  OF  LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 134 FOR ANSWER ON 10.02.2021 ASKED BY SHRI JAYANT SINHA REGARDING ILLEGEL MINING.

- (a):    As per section 23C of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 ['MMDR Act 1957'], State Governments have been empowered to frame rules  for  preventing  illegal  mining,  transportation  and  storage  of  minerals  for  both major  and  minor  minerals  and  for  purposes  connected  therewith. Therefore, prevention and control of illegal mining comes under the legislative and administrative jurisdiction of State Governments. Central Government has, inter-alia, taken the following measures for controlling illegal mining in the country:
- (i)          Penalty  for  illegal  mining  was  made  more  stringent  by  amendment  of  the MMDR Act. The penalties have been increased from Rs. 25 thousand per hectares to Rs. 5 Lakh per hectare and the term of imprisonment has been increased from 2 years to 5 years for contravention of Section 4(1) and 4(1A) of the Act. Further, any rule  made  under  the  Act  may  provide  that  any  contravention  thereof  shall  be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years or with fine which may extend to five lakh rupees, or with both, and in the case of a continuing contravention,  with  additional  fine  which  may  extend  to  fifty  thousand  rupees  for every  day  during  which  such  contravention  continues  after  conviction  for  the  first such contravention. Section 30B of the Act provide for constitution of Special courts and 30C of the Act provides that such Special Courts shall be deemed to be a Court of Session.
- (ii)        Rule 45 of the Mineral Conservation and Development Rules, (MCDR) 2017 makes  it  mandatory  for  all  miners,  traders,  stockist,  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.  It  facilitates  end-to-end national-scale accounting of all minerals produced in the country from  pithead to its end-use, reducing the scope for illegal mining, royalty evasion, etc.
- (iii)        The  Ministry  of  Mines,  through  Indian  Bureau  of  Mines,  has  developed  the Mining Surveillance System (MSS) to use space technology for curbing illegal mining activity in the country.
- (iv)        21  State  Governments  namely, Andhra  Pradesh,  Bihar,  Chhattisgarh,  Goa, Gujarat,  Haryana,  Himachal  Pradesh,  Jammu  &  Kashmir,  Jharkhand,  Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya  Pradesh, Maharashtra, Nagaland, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamilnadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, and West Bengal have framed rules under section 23C of MMDR Act, 1957 to curb illegal mining.
- (v)         State  Governments  were  requested  to  set  up  Task  Forces  at  State  and District  Level  to  control  illegal  mining.  Subsequently,  22  States  have  set  up  Task Forces to control illegal mining and review the action taken by member departments for  checking  the  illegal  mining  activities  at  state  and  district  levels  so  far.  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 have constituted Task Forces.

(b) & (c): The Ministry of Mines, through Indian Bureau of Mines, has developed the Mining Surveillance System (MSS), in coordination with Bhaskaracharya Institute for Space  Applications  and  Geo-informatics (BISAG),  Gandhinagar  and  Ministry  of Electronics  and  Information  Technology  (MEITY),  to  use  space  technology  for curbing illegal mining activity in the country. Mining Surveillance System (MSS) is a satellite-based monitoring system which aims to detect illegal mining activity through use of satellite images. The system records any landform disturbances upto 500m beyond the lease boundary and generates trigger, which is investigated by the State Government and necessary action is taken.

In  the  initial  phase  (Phase-I)  of  MSS  during  the  year  2016-17,  total  296 triggers for major minerals have been generated across the country and sent to the respective State Governments including State of Jharkhand for the field verification of the these triggers. State Governments verified 287 triggers out of 296 triggers and unauthorized mining has been detected / confirmed in 47 cases. Details are given at Annexure-I. In second phase of MSS as on 12/11/2020, 45 triggers were verified out of 52 triggers for major minerals and 5 cases of un-authorized mining were detected. Details are given at Annexure-II. Further, 106 triggers out of 130 triggers have been verified  for  minor  minerals  and  11  cases  of  un-authorized  mining  have  been reported. Details are given at Annexure-III

A  user-friendly  mobile  app  for  MSS  has  also  been  launched  for  use  of general public for raising complaint of illegal mining activities. Once a complaint is received, it is forwarded to the respective State Government for taking appropriate action in the matter.

*****

## MSS TRIGGER REPORT FOR THE FIRST PHASE DURING THE YEAR 2016-17

| State            |   Total Trigger |   Total Inspection |
|------------------|-----------------|--------------------|
| CHHATTISGARH     |               6 |                  6 |
| HIMACHAL PRADESH |              11 |                 11 |
| MADHYA PRADESH   |              46 |                 46 |
| KARNATAKA        |              35 |                 35 |
| MEGHALAYA        |               8 |                  1 |
| RAJASTHAN        |              23 |                 22 |
| GUJARAT          |              32 |                 32 |
| TAMIL NADU       |              29 |                 29 |
| ODISHA           |              20 |                 20 |
| MAHARASHTRA      |               8 |                  7 |
| TELANGANA        |               6 |                  6 |
| GOA              |              42 |                 42 |
| JHARKHAND        |               1 |                  1 |
| ANDHRA PRADESH   |              29 |                 29 |
| Total            |             296 |                287 |

## Annexure-I

## Annexure-II

## MSS TRIGGER REPORT FOR THE SECOND PHASE OF MAJOR MINERALS DURING THE YEAR 2018-19

| State            |   Total Trigger | Total Inspection   |
|------------------|-----------------|--------------------|
| ANDHRA PRADESH   |               8 | 8                  |
| CHHATTISGARH     |               4 | 3                  |
| GUJARAT          |               7 | 7                  |
| HIMACHAL PRADESH |               2 | -                  |
| JAMMU & KASHMIR  |               2 | 2                  |
| JHARKHAND        |               1 | -                  |
| KARNATAKA        |               4 | 4                  |
| MADHYA PRADESH   |               4 | 4                  |
| MAHARASHTRA      |               3 | 3                  |
| ODISHA           |               2 | 2                  |
| RAJASTHAN        |               8 | 8                  |
| TAMIL NADU       |               7 | 4                  |
| Total            |              52 | 45                 |

## Annexure-III MSS TRIGGER REPORT FOR THE SECOND PHASE OF MINOR MINERALS DURING THE YEAR 2018-19

| State          |   Total Trigger | Total Inspection   |
|----------------|-----------------|--------------------|
| ANDHRA PRADESH |               8 | 8                  |
| CHHATTISGARH   |               4 | -                  |
| GOA            |               3 | 3                  |
| GUJARAT        |              27 | 27                 |
| HARYANA        |               4 | 2                  |
| JHARKHAND      |              11 | 4                  |
| KARNATAKA      |              12 | 12                 |
| KERALA         |               5 | 3                  |
| MAHARASHTRA    |               2 | -                  |
| RAJASTHAN      |              37 | 35                 |
| TAMIL NADU     |              10 | 8                  |
| TELANGANA      |               3 | 3                  |
| UTTAR PRADESH  |               4 | 1                  |
| Total          |             130 | 106                |