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Good quality iron ore reserves in Odisha will only last for 30 years, if it were to be mined at the rate of extraction permitted by the Indian Bureau of Mines and the Environment Ministry, according to the Justice M.B. Shah Commission report on illegal mining in the State.
In this context, the report has called for a focus on conserving iron ore and protecting the environment in Odisha.
“The permission granted so far for extraction of 154.263 million tonnes by the Indian Bureau of Mines and MoEF, if taken into consideration and achieved, then the reserves would last only for 30 years in the State for good quality ore,” the report noted.
“Nobody has thought of conservation of iron ore and protection of the environment,” it added.
The report observed that of the 192 mining leases in Odisha, 176 were located within dense forest areas. A whopping 94 of them were operating without environment clearances. Of these 94 leases, iron ore was extracted from 53 mines and manganese ore from 25 mines.
The Union Cabinet last week referred the Shah Commission report to a Committee of Secretaries to draw up the action taken report, after which it would be tabled in Parliament.
The report had indicted both the Centre and the State Government on illegal mining of iron and manganese ores. It had also asked the Odisha Government to recover over Rs 59,203 crore from the miners.
According to the Commission, iron ore worth over Rs 45,453 crore and manganese ore worth over Rs 3,089 crore has been extracted “illegally and without lawful authority” by the miners in Odisha in violation of EC conditions alone.
PTI adds: Top firms such as SAIL, Tata Steel, Aditya Birla group’s Essel Mining and Odisha Mining Corp are among 70 firms that have violated environment and forest laws, the Shah Commission has held.
Large scale violation of environment and forest laws have taken place in Odisha since 1994-95 and most of the mining lease holders violated them in some form or other, it said.
The Commission has estimated that iron ore worth over Rs 45,453 crore and manganese worth over Rs 3,089 crore have been extracted by miners “illegally and without lawful authority” by violating conditions of Environment Clearance alone.
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