The Union Minister of Steel and Mines Narendra Singh Tomar has set the ball rolling for an inspection by the Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) into allegations of illegal iron ore mining in Odisha.
"I have instructed that an inspection be held to ascertain if illegal mining is taking place there," Mr. Tomar told The Hindu on Friday. "This will be taken care of by the IBM."
This comes days after Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram's letter to Mr. Tomar, saying there were reports of a 120-crore illegal mining scam in the State. The letter had said that local residents at Rangra, 60 kms from Rourkela, had detected 30,000-40,000 metric tonnes of iron ore “dug under the surface soil”.
Urging Mr. Tomar to send an inspection team to ascertain the legality of the matter, Mr. Oram had cautioned that mining mafias operating in the area "in collusion with the State mining department” could suppress the matter.
Mr. Oram had told The Hindu : “There are complaints of lots of illegal mining and theft at Rangra, but the Odisha mining department and the State police is brushing the matter under the carpet. There hasn’t been any action or seizure of the iron ore. Rampant theft is going on and the BJD government has turned a blind eye to it.”
The BJD had reacted cautiously. Its leader Bhartruhari Mahtab had said that there should be an immediate inspection if a Cabinet minister was expressing such concerns. He said this would be better than speculations on the matter.
Mr. Oram's letter to Mr. Tomar also said: “On 5.10.2015, local villagers detected and informed the local mining DDM. He sent a team of nine persons who dug and detected huge quantity of lump, iron ore and fines which would be worth 100-120 crore of rupees in value in the market as on date.
“You are requested to send the IBM officials to do the needful to find out the legality of the transaction.”
