The Bellary district administration, which had intermittently gone to sleep in the last few days despite the Supreme Court ban on mining, seems to be awake and alert now. The officials have now taken some concrete steps to check illegal transportation of iron ore, after huge quantities of it continued to leak through the borders of the dusty, mineral-rich district.
The Supreme Court (SC) order last Friday had banned all forms of mining in Bellary, but even after that transportation of iron ore had carried on unabated.
The district administration of Bellary has seized around 12,700 tonnes of iron ore in five different places based on tip-offs provided by the public and a few Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in the last few days. But it is not clear how much of it would have still got transported, unchecked.
Talking to FE, Bellary District Deputy Commissioner (DC) AA Biswas stated that the district administration has taken serious note of transportation of iron ore by various suppliers after the Supreme Court order.
He said the district administration is preparing a report in this connection and it would be submitted to the state government on Friday. The government inturn will submit the report to the Supreme Court for further action, he said.
The DC said five mobile teams involving officials from the departments like police, revenue, mines and geology and forest have been formed, to visit the mining areas and check for any illegal mining or transportation. Before the SC order, four checkposts were operating on the border of Bellary district to check illegal iron ore transportation. In addition to this, four more checks posts are being set up to check the illegal transport.
After miners stopped operations in Bellary, the iron and steel industrial units in Bellary region have started procuring iron ore from the neighbouring districts of Tumkur and Chitradurga. The lorries laden with iron ore have been entering from these negibhourging districts into Bellary every day. ?We have asked the neighbouring district administrations to provide some stickers on the lorries coming from there for identification? Biswas added.
On Thursday, the DCs, Superintendent of Polices of Bellary and Chitradurga district convened a meeting to discuss checking of the illegal transport of iron ore in Bellary district after the Supreme Court ban.
SR Hiremath of Samaj Parivartana Samudaya (SPS), a NGO that fights illegal mining, said, ?Surprisingly some of these seized ore had official permits. Immediately after the court pronouncing the order, I had informed the Director of Mining and Geology and forest department officials in the state.
But still the forest department issued permits for ore transport.?
The district administration seized 49 truckloads of ore transported from Bellary Mining Corporation (BMC), which is owned by BA Srinivasa Reddy, who is a close confidante of mining magnates – the Reddy brothers and one of the directors of their Obalapuram Mining Company (OMC). The officials have also seized 59 rail wagons od iron ore (around 3,700 tonnes) at Hagari railway station.
It was dispatched by a private trading company to Janaki Steels in Bellary. On the same day, around 3,500 tonnes of ore has been seized near to Torangal where a private firm transported it to JSW Steel.
On August 1, around 3,500 tonnes of ore supplied from NMDC to JSW was also been seized. On the same day, the officials seized 1,378 tonnes of ore when it was transported in 138 lorries.
Some of the villagers FE spoke to, said the political confusion in the state after Lokayukta released its second report was also one of the reasons for the government failing to implement the Supreme Court order in Bellary effectively. ?But it is better late than never,? said a villager, who did not want to be identiied for this story.