Govt axe on shady mines; to fix scamsters

Hyderabad: Taking serious note of the alleged irregularities reported in the mining activity, Mining and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao on Friday cancelled the leases of 477 mines and instructed the officials to file criminal cases against those involved in the mining scam.

At a meeting on Friday, the Minister reviewed a report submitted by the State Mining department on mining activities in the State. He was informed that irregularities and violations were found at 79 places out of 354 inspections conducted in Warangal, Hyderabad and Nizamabad districts.

The Minister was livid over growing irregularities in mining sector which caused a huge loss to the State exchequer as mining was the major source of non-tax revenue to the State. He directed the officials to cancel mining leases and file cases immediately.

“The officials should not spare anyone for irregularities,” the Minister said, asking the officials to make use of technology and protect ecological balance. Besides using rock sand, the officials were asked to take immediate steps for using the sand for the ongoing developmental works taken up by various departments.

KTR said government will bring first of its kind ‘Mining Policy’ and leasing of mines and sand reaches would be done through e-auction at international-level soon. The Minister expressed satisfaction at the income received through sand mining. “The Mines department achieved 110 per cent income by making in Rs 3,500 crore as against the target of Rs 3,166 crore till February end. The State exchequer received 139 per cent sand mining income of Rs 538 crore as against Rs 388 crore target,” he informed.

The Minister favoured geo-fencing, geo-tagging, use of satellite pictures and drones for sand mining to ensure only legal mining takes place. Referring to Bayyaram Steel Plant, KTR said he would meet central officials to get all necessary permissions and would see to it that the project works start soon.