Mining Demon feeding on natural resources

The menace of mining has spread its tentacles deep into the Indian soil and in each and every corner of the country. The biggest revelation was made on March 23 when a CAG report leaked to the media exposed a mind boggling coal scam worth Rs 10.7 lakh crore and estimated to be the biggest in the history of India. 

Why large scale mining corruption in India?

Since the government allocates the coal blocks to the people but there is no criteria of how deep one can dig into the earth in search of a natural resource remains the major reason behind the exploitation of the minerals. The mining mafia in greed of extracting more and more natural mineral from the soil digs up deep and even on more than the allotted area.

Secondly, the unlimited possibilities of extracting the natural resource lure the power holders, mining lords as well as the administrative officials. This breeds the mining scams which often go unchecked due to the combined participation of the two pillars of the democracy.

Union Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal said on August 15, 2011 that it is impossible to curb illegal mining without the help of the state governments. He directed the states to take stringent actions against the defiant people under MMDR Act, 1957.

Swami Nigamanand’s sacrifice yet to reap results

The mining scams have consumed several lives so far including Swami Nigamanand who died while fasting against illegal mining and stone crushing along the Ganga near Haridwar. Following the footsteps of the young monk who sacrificed his life for the Ganga, the fasting saint Swami Sanand or GD Agrawal ended his fast on March 23 after an assurance by the government to adhere to his demands. However, how far the Centre will stick to its promise remains in doubt.

IPS Narendra Singh killed by Mining mafia

The latest casualty which trembled the political corridors is the alleged murder of IPS Narendra Singh in Madhya Pradesh. The valiant hero was ruthlessly crushed by a dumper at a mining site leaving behind a pregnant IAS wife. The state can expect to be least hopeful of putting an end to the menace as the former Congress government headed by Digvijay Singh and the current BJP government with Shivraj Singh Patil as the Chief Minister remain mute spectators to the uncontrolled mining activity.

A massive iron ore mining scandal worth Rs 5,000 crore scam  involving Congress leader and MLA Sanjay Pathak in the Sihora region of Jabalpur district came to light in 2011, where he was alleged to have illegally mine out 50 lakh tonne of iron ore and export it to China between 2007 to 2011, the lease for which expired in 2007 and also these mines were alleged to be a forest land which were converted into revenue land by notesheet order signed by then CM Digvijay Singh.

The Yeddy Mining scam in Karnataka

The mockery of the Indian democratic system can be gauged form the fact that the saviours of the nation clad in white are the main stakeholders in the crime. Removed former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa who blackmailed BJP to reappoint him on the coveted post was found to be involved in the Rs 60,000 crore iron ore mining scam in the state. In the CBI probe, Yeddyurappa even admitted that over three crore tons of iron ore worth Rs 12,000 crore was illegally shifted out of Karnataka. In 2009-10 alone, 71 lakh tons of iron ore was illegally shipped out of Karnataka.

A report in 2008 by the Lokayukta uncovered major violations and systemic corruption in mining in Bellary , encroachment of forest land, massive underpayment of state mining royalties relative to the market price of iron ore and systematic starvation of government mining entities.

The search for iron in Bellary has led to eradication of the forests, soil pollution and river pollution. While the mining mafia has bent the law in its interest, the police and other authorities are mere players in the crime.  

A Lokayukta report in 2011 indicted Yeddyurappa and four ministers in the scam, saying it has caused a loss of Rs 1,800 crore to the exchequer in 14 months from March 2009.

YSR heir Jagan churns crores in Andhra mining scandal

Jagan Mohan Reddy’s Jagathi Publications and other sister firms with no income that accumulated losses of Rs 250 crore in four years got a total investment of Rs 1,246 crore in a very short time. Jagan, son of former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy, declared assets worth Rs 365.68 crore, making him one of the richest politicians in the country whose income grew 350 percent after the 2009 elections.

Mining permits were issued to Rakshana Steels, linked to Anil Kumar, the son-in-law of Y S Rajasekhar Reddy for over 137,000 Acres of land in Andhra Pradesh. The A P Mining development corporation entered into a joint venture agreement in 2009 with Rakshana Steels for mining iron ore in Khammam and Warangal districts.

Aravalis disappearing in Rajasthan

The open and uncontrolled mining in the Aravali range is no hidden fact but amid the hullabaloo over the menace of illegal mining digging a hole in the Indian treasury, the then Environment & Forests Minister, Jairam Ramesh said, “We do not have a regulatory system that is effective enough to stop this illegal mining.”

Rajasthan is also being continuously ripped off its treasure of Makrana stone and the activity fails to draw any attention of the authorities.

The Vedanta episode

However, a drop in the ocean was seen when Jairam Ramesh struck down a controversial mining project to build an open-cast bauxite mine in the Niyamgiri Hill range in the state of Orissa in 2010 by multinational company Vedanta which threatened the fate of tribes compared to the stars of film Avatar.

Recently, the BJP has demanded CBI probe into the alleged Rs 100 crore scam in the Maharashtra Small Scale Industrial Development Corporation in Nagpur.

The unlimited and uncontrolled mining demon consuming the mother earth needs to be contained at the earliest as the consequences and losses may be far from calculation.