Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram has raised the alarm on what he believes could be a Rs. 120-crore illegal mining scam in Biju Janata Dal-ruled Odisha.
In a letter to his Cabinet colleague and Minister of Steel and Mines Narendra Singh Tomar, Mr. Oram says that local residents at Rangra have detected 30,000-40,000 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 has cautioned that the matter may be “suppressed by interested mining mafias operating in the area in collusion with the State mining department.”
May spark political rowThe matter can snowball into a regional political controversy, as it may offer the BJP – a one-time ally of the ruling BJD before the two fell out years back – an issue to corner the Naveen Patnaik government.
‘Complaints galore’Talking to The Hindu on phone, Mr. Oram said: “There are complaints of lots of illegal mining and theft at Rangra just 60 km from Rourkela but the Odisha mining department and the State police are 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.”
“I am sending the gist of detection of huge quantity of lump, fines and sized ore from the side of the railway siding at Rangra in Koida mining area which were found dug under the surface soil…,” the letter, of which The Hindu has a copy, says. “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, sized iron ore and fines which would be worth Rs. 100-120 crore in the market as on date.”
Probe must be ordered, says BJDWhen reached for comment, Biju Janata Dal leader Bhartruhari Mahtab said, “When a senior Minister is alleging something, it should be inquired into. Nothing should be left to speculation and the Ministry of Mines along with the State government should act expeditiously.”
