The Ministry of Mines, through Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM), has developed the Mining Surveillance System (MSS), in coordination with Bhaskaracharya Institute for Space Applications & Geo-informatics (BISAG), Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) to use space technology for curbing illegal mining activities of major minerals in the country.

The system checks upto 500 meters around the existing mining lease boundary for any excavation activity which is likely to be an incidence of illegal mining. Any excavation activity found is flagged-off as a trigger which in turn is sent to the State Government for field verification. A user-friendly mobile app for MSS has also been launched for the use of general public for raising complaint of illegal mining activities. Every complaint received through the app is forwarded to the respective State Government for taking appropriate action in the matter.

Penalty for illegal mining was made more stringent by the Central Government through amendment of the MMDR Act in 2015. The penalties have been increased from Rs 25 thousand per hectare to Rs 5 Lakh per hectare and the term of the imprisonment has been increased from 2 years to 5 years for contravention of section 4(1) and 4(1A) of the Act. Further, Section 23C of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (MMDR Act), empowers the State Governments to frame rules to prevent illegal mining, transportation and storage of minerals and for the purposes connected therewith. Hence, control of illegal mining comes within the jurisdiction of the State Governments.

Based on the quarterly returns on illegal mining submitted by various State Governments to IBM, details of instances of illegal mining (both major minerals and minor minerals) reported in the country alongwith the action taken is given in the Annexure.

 

ANNEXURE (PQ 921)

DETAILS OF INSTANCES OF ILLEGAL MINING (FOR BOTH MAJOR AND MINOR MINERALS) REPORTED FROM 2017-18 TO 2020-21

Illegal mining cases							Action taken from 2017-18 to 2020-21
Sr. No.	State		2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21			FIR Lodged (Nos.)	Court Cases Filed (Nos.)	Vehicle Seized (No.)	Fine realized by State Govt. (Rs. Lakh)
1	Andhra Pradesh	8128	7644	8354	10736	66	39	2653	63748.891
2	Chhattisgarh	4857	5060	6449	5376	0	16366	0	3862.339
3	Gujarat	7827	7679	7476	7164	492	53	23404	38563.317
4	Haryana	1391	1380	1251	1384	630	0	0	2536.008
5	Himachal Pradesh	1753	590	2424	4339	84	1053	17	245.050
6	Jammu & Kashmir	1485	n.r	n.r	n.r	0	0	1485	15.896
7	Jharkhand	2772	3132	3269	n.r	2262	1051	8759	4083.115
8	Karnataka	4669	4101	4935	5584	4187	1524	1895	9904.805
9	Kerala	8315	7797	8575	7400	0	0	0	20196.630
10	Madhya Pradesh	15205	16405	8223	11157	61	23799	29	180255.981
11	Maharashtra 26628		13436	10456	11002	8461	0	61522	40450.770
12	Odisha	47	29	16	18	2	0	17	759.790
13	Rajasthan	6632	17118	4027	5815	2841	89	295802	26727.921
14	Tamilnadu	132	113	66	70	36959	1636	43597	10893.134
15	Telangana	6143	6553	7039	5620	0	0	2	4486.510
16	Uttar Pradesh	20214	24455	n.r	n.r	677	4423	0	11667.530
Grand Total			116198 115492	72560	75665	56722		50033 439182	418397.687

 

This information was given by the Union Minister of Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs Shri Pralhad Joshi in a written reply in RajyaSabha today.

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MV/RKP

 

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