Lok Sabha Question No. 1634 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-07-27
Subject: Illegal Storage and Mining of Coal
Ministry: COAL
Asked by: Jugal Kishore Sharma, Riti Pathak, Geeta Kora, Navneet Ravi Rana, Locket Chatterjee, Jyotirmay Singh Mahato, Dileshwar Kamait, Chandan Singh, Rama Devi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COAL LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1634

TO BE ANSWERED ON 27.07.2022

## ILLEGAL STORAGE AND MINING OF COAL

## 1634.  SHRI JUGAL KISHORE SHARMA:

SHRIMATI RITI PATHAK:

SHRIMATI GEETA KORA:

SHRIMATI NAVNEET RAVI RANA:

MS. LOCKET CHATTERJEE:

SHRI JYOTIRMAY SINGH MAHATO:

SHRI DILESHWAR KAMAIT:

SHRI CHANDAN SINGH:

SHRIMATI RAMA DEVI:

Will the Minister of Coal be pleased to state:

- (a)   whether  the  Government  has  conducted  any  assessment/survey  regarding  the  illegal storage and mining of coal;
- (b)   if  so,  the  State-wise/UT-wise details thereof particularly in respect of Maharashtra and West Bengal;
- (c) whether the Government has taken cognizance of illegal mining/theft/illegal possession of coal by the coal mafias in the country and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether the Government  is aware of coal theft in the districts of Maharashtra including Amravati Parliamentary Constituency and if so, the details thereof;
- (e) the action being taken by the Government to stop the theft and illegal mining; and
- (f) whether the Government has taken any steps to check the illegal coal mining activities and to strengthen the information system related thereto and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) During the course of coal production by Coal India Limited, all statutory provisions under various Acts, Rules and Regulations are observed for conducting various activities. As such, there  is  no  illegal  mining  in  the  lease-hold  areas  of  Coal  India  Limited.  However,  illegal mining  of  coal  is  reported  to  be  carried  out  mainly  from  abandoned  mines,  shallow  coal seams  situated  at  remote/isolated  places.  It  is  a  Law  &  Order  problem  which  is  a  State subject, hence primarily; falls under the domain of the State/District administration to take necessary deterrent action to stop/curb illegal mining of coal. Surprise

raids/checks/inspection are conducted by security personnel as well as jointly with law and order authorities of the concerned State Government.

(b) First Information Reports (FIRs) are lodged whenever any incident of Illegal mining of coal comes to the notice of the coal companies.

Number of FIR lodged in cases of illegal mining of coal during 2021-22, company-wise and State-wise is given below:

(Provisional)

| Name of the Company   | State              |   FIR lodged ( 2021-22) |
|-----------------------|--------------------|-------------------------|
| ECL                   | WB                 |                       2 |
|                       | Jharkhand          |                       3 |
|                       | Sub Total          |                       5 |
| BCCL                  | Jharkhand          |                       0 |
|                       | WB                 |                       0 |
|                       | Sub Total          |                       0 |
| CCL                   | Jharkhand          |                       5 |
| NCL                   | MP                 |                       0 |
|                       | UP                 |                       0 |
|                       | Sub Total          |                       0 |
| WCL                   | Maharashtra        |                       0 |
|                       | MP                 |                       0 |
|                       | Sub Total          |                       0 |
| SECL                  | MP                 |                       0 |
|                       | Chhattisgarh       |                       0 |
|                       | Sub Total          |                       0 |
| MCL                   | Odisha             |                       0 |
| NEC                   | Assam              |                       1 |
| Coal India Limited    | Coal India Limited |                      11 |

(c) Theft/pilferage/illegal mining of coal are carried out stealthily and clandestinely. 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 2021-22 in the subsidiary companies of Coal India Limited is as under:

| Theft/Pilferage of coal   | Theft/Pilferage of coal   | (Provisional)              | (Provisional)    |
|---------------------------|---------------------------|----------------------------|------------------|
| Co.                       | State                     | 2021-22                    | 2021-22          |
|                           |                           | Qty. Recovered (te)Approx. | Value (Rs. Lakh) |
| ECL                       | WB                        | 9840.32                    | 590.450          |
|                           | Jharkhand                 | 5245.72                    | 314.680          |
|                           | Sub Total                 | 15086.04                   | 905.130          |
| BCCL                      | Jharkhand                 | 11096.58                   | 301.244          |
|                           | WB                        | 18.14                      | 0.430            |
|                           | Sub Total                 | 11114.72                   | 301.675          |
| CCL                       | Jharkhand                 | 1755.65                    | 42.844           |
| NCL                       | MP                        | 0.00                       | 0.000            |

|                    | UP                 |    25.05 |    0.561 |
|--------------------|--------------------|----------|----------|
|                    | Sub Total          |    25.05 |    0.561 |
| WCL                | Maharashtra        |   311.68 |   11.354 |
|                    | MP                 |     0    |    0     |
|                    | Sub Total          |   311.68 |   11.354 |
| SECL               | MP                 |    67.77 |    1.683 |
|                    | Chhattisgarh       |     0.05 |    0.005 |
|                    | Sub Total          |    67.82 |    1.688 |
| MCL                | Odisha             |   132.56 |    4.182 |
| NEC                | Assam              |     0    |    0     |
| Coal India Limited | Coal India Limited | 28468.5  | 1266.87  |

Illegal mining of coal                                                     (Provisional)

| Company            | State              | 2021-22             | 2021-22             |
|--------------------|--------------------|---------------------|---------------------|
|                    |                    | Qty. recovered (te) | App.Value (Rs.Lakh) |
| ECL                | WB                 | 13.19               | 0.780               |
|                    | Jharkhand          | 123.42              | 7.400               |
|                    | Sub Total          | 136.61              | 8.180               |
| BCCL               | Jharkhand          | 0.00                | 0.000               |
|                    | WB                 | 0.00                | 0.000               |
|                    | Sub Total          | 0.00                | 0.000               |
| CCL                | Jharkhand          | 29.00               | 0.904               |
| NCL                | UP/MP              | 0.00                | 0.000               |
| WCL                | Maharashtra        | 0.00                | 0.000               |
|                    | MP                 | 0.00                | 0.000               |
|                    | Sub Total          | 0.00                | 0.000               |
| SECL               | MP                 | 0.00                | 0.000               |
|                    | Chhattisgarh       | 0.00                | 0.000               |
|                    | Sub Total          | 0.00                | 0.000               |
| MCL                | Odisha             | 0.00                | 0.000               |
| NEC                | Assam              | 0.00                | 0.000               |
| Coal India Limited | Coal India Limited | 165.61              | 9.084               |

(d) Theft/pilferage of coal are carried out stealthily and clandestinely. 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 2021-22 in the subsidiary company of Coal India Limited in the state of Maharashtra is as under:

|                      | 2021-22              | 2021-22                      |
|----------------------|----------------------|------------------------------|
|                      |                      | (te)Approx. Value (Rs. Lakh) |
| WCLMaharashtra311.68 | WCLMaharashtra311.68 | 11.354                       |

However,  there  is  no  report  of  coal  theft  in  Amravati  Parliamentary  Constituency  as  per available records.

- (e) Theft/pilferage/illegal mining of coal is a Law & Order problem which is a State subject, hence primarily; falls under the domain of the State/District administration to take necessary deterrent action to stop/curb theft/pilferage/illegal mining of coal.

The  Management  of  subsidiary  companies  lodges  FIR  with  local  Thana  to  take  necessary action.

## Following Steps taken to check theft / pilferage of coal:

- o RFID based Boom Barriers and CCTV camera at weighbridges, GPRS based vehicle tracking system with geofencing and CCTV camera at strategic locations installed in mines.
- o Regular FIRs are lodged by the Colliery Management and CISF with local Thana. A close watch on the activities of criminals is being kept by CISF.
- o Interaction and liaison with District officials at regular intervals and holding meeting with Officials of the State Administration.
- o Challans for coal transportation by trucks outside the district are being issued after fixing hologram and putting signatures of authorized officials of CISF to check pilferage.
- o Armed Guards have been deployed at Railway sidings.
- o Escorting of coal rakes in coordination with RPF upto weighbridge, is arranged in pilferage prone areas.
- o Surprise re-weighment of coal loaded trucks is done at weighbridges.
- o Surprise checks / raids are conducted by flying squads of CISF/security department.
- o Regular patrolling is conducted in and around the mine including OB dumps.
- o Joint patrolling with local police is also being carried out in pilferage prone areas.
- o Check posts have been established at entry / exit points where all coal laden vehicles are physically checked.
- o Security at coal dumps has been strengthened by fencing, proper illumination and round the clock guarding.

## Following steps taken to check Illegal mining of coal:

-  Concrete walls have been erected on the mouth of the abandoned mines to prevent access and illegal activities in these areas.
-  Surprise raids/checks being conducted jointly by security personnel and law and order authorities of the concerned State Government.
-  Dumping of the overburden is being done on the outcrop zones.
-  Installation of check-posts at vulnerable points.
-  Training of existing security/CISF personnel, refresher training and basic training of new recruits in security discipline for strengthening the security setup.
-  Maintaining close liaison with the State authorities.
-  Committee/task force has been constituted at different level (block level, subdivisional level, district level, state level) in some subsidiaries of CIL to monitor different aspects of illegal mining.
-  The Government of India has launched one mobile app namely 'Khanan Prahari' and one web app Coal Mine Surveillance and Management System (CMSMS) for reporting unauthorized coal mining activities so that monitoring and taking suitable action on it can be done by Law & Order authorities.
- (f) Besides the above mobile app 'Khanan Prahari' and web app 'CMSMS', status of CCTV Surveillance & GPS based VTS System - Subsidiary-wise of CIL  are given below:

| Subsidiary company   | Total CCTV Cameras implemented at - a. Vulnerable locations viz Weighbridges, Workshop, Number of vehicles deployed with GPS based VTS System   | Total CCTV Cameras implemented at - a. Vulnerable locations viz Weighbridges, Workshop, Number of vehicles deployed with GPS based VTS System   |
|----------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                      | Sidings, & Stocks                                                                                                                               |                                                                                                                                                 |
| MCL                  | 989                                                                                                                                             | 2714                                                                                                                                            |
| CCL                  | 1693                                                                                                                                            | 3150                                                                                                                                            |
| NCL                  | 1347                                                                                                                                            | 506                                                                                                                                             |
| WCL                  | 613                                                                                                                                             | 1037                                                                                                                                            |
| BCCL                 | 602                                                                                                                                             | 552                                                                                                                                             |
| ECL                  | 1294                                                                                                                                            | 1035                                                                                                                                            |
| SECL                 | 1308                                                                                                                                            | 1125                                                                                                                                            |
| TOTAL                | 7846                                                                                                                                            | 10119                                                                                                                                           |

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