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Illegal mines galore in M.P., alleges NGO

BHOPAL: Hundreds of illegal mines are said to be operating across Madhya Pradesh without obtaining the environment clearance from the Central Government or the mandatory no-objection certificate from the State Pollution Control Board.

Prayatna, an NGO working on environment issues, had raised the large-scale illegal mining activity in the State by writing to the Chief Minister, Shivraj Singh Chauhan, in June 2007 by pointing out that 296 of the 526 mines in the State, each spread over an area exceeding 5 hectares, were operating without obtaining the necessary environmental clearance.

Similarly, it had been pointed out that 70 per cent of the 1300 mines, each covering less than 5 hectares, were being allowed to operate without obtaining pollution related no objection certificates.

The Chief Minister was also informed by Prayatna that after an application had been filed to obtain related information from the State Pollution Control Board under the Right to Information Act, 2000 (RTI) on March 12, 2007, orders were issued by the Board headquarters to shut down 200 major mines and the regional offices of the Board ordered the closure of another 600 mines. Prayatna described this as a major cover up operation.

The NGO further pointed out that the mine lease holders caused huge financial loss to the exchequer as they had failed to pay the necessary fees to the State Pollution Control Board to obtain the no-objection certificates.

The State Government has been issuing instructions that a mining lease would not be allowed to become operational without obtaining the mandatory “pollution control” clearance.

The State department of Mineral Resources had issued directives to the District Collectors on July 19, 2005 stating that it was mandatory for all mining lease holders to obtain the environment related no-objection certificates. Producing copies of official documents obtained under RTI to corroborate the charges, the Secretary Prayatna, Ajay Dubey told The Hindu that even after the State Pollution Control Board had ordered the closure of about 800 mines last year, hundreds of mines were still operating illegally in the State.

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Illegal mines galore in M.P., alleges NGO

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