Lok Sabha Question No. 2263 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-08-02
Subject: Illegal Mining
Ministry: MINES
Asked by: Anumula Revanth Reddy

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF MINES

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2263

ANSWERED ON 02.08.2023

## ILLEGAL MINING

## 2263 . SHRI ANUMULA REVANTH REDDY:

Will the Minister of MINES be pleased to state:

- (a) the number of illegal mining cases reported and details of action taken by the Government in the last five years, year, State, district-wise for Telangana;
- (b) the number of people who got caught, punished and acquitted in illegal mining cases in the last five years, year, State, district-wise for Telangana;
- (c) whether the Government is using any technology for detecting illegal mining, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; and
- (d) the amount of revenue loss estimated to public exchequer due to illegal mining in the last five years, year/State-wise?

## ANSWER

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

(a)  to  (d):     As  per  Section  23C  of  the  Mines  and  Minerals  (Development  and Regulation) Act, 1957, State Governments have been empowered to frame rules to curb illegal mining, transportation, and storage of illegally mined minerals and for the purposes  connected  therewith.  So  far,  21  State  Governments  have  framed  rules under Section 23C of the MMDR Act, 1957 to curb illegal mining. Accordingly State Governments are delegated with the matters connected with illegal mining.

However, based on the quarterly returns submitted by State Governments on illegal  mining  to  Indian  Bureau  of  Mines  (a  subordinate  office  under  administrative control of Ministry of Mines), the number of illegal mining cases identified/reported by Government of Telangana and subsequent action taken in last five years is provided at Annexure.

Ministry of Mines through Indian Bureau of Mines has developed the Mining Surveillance System (MSS) to use space technology for reporting any illegal mining activity to the concerned State Government for taking further necessary action. MSS uses  time  series  satellite  imagery  data  made  available  by  the  Bhaskaracharya National  Institute  for  Space  Technology  and  Geo-informatics  (BISAG-  N),  Gandhi Nagar to detect the illegal mining activity beyond the lease boundaries.

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## Annexure

(The number of illegal mining cases identified/reported by Government of Telangana on the quarterly returns submitted on illegal mining to IBM)

| Year    |   No. of Cases |   FIR Lodged (Nos.) |   Court Cases Filed (Nos.) |   Vehicle Seized (No.) |   Fine realized by State Govt. (Rs. Lakh) |
|---------|----------------|---------------------|----------------------------|------------------------|-------------------------------------------|
| 2017-18 |           6143 |                   0 |                          0 |                      1 |                                   1112.78 |
| 2018-19 |           6553 |                   0 |                          0 |                      0 |                                   1177.81 |
| 2019-20 |           7039 |                   0 |                          0 |                      0 |                                   1175.6  |
| 2020-21 |           5620 |                   0 |                          0 |                      0 |                                    820.32 |
| 2021-22 |           2831 |                   0 |                          0 |                     73 |                                    793.81 |
| Total   |          28186 |                   0 |                          0 |                     74 |                                   5080.32 |