Government working on pan-India surveillance network to curb illegal mining menace

NEW DELHI: Mines Ministry is working on a pan-Indian surveillance network leveraging space technology to curb the menace of illegal mining in the country.

The Bhaskaracharya Institute of Space Applications and Geo-Informatics ( BISAG) under the Department of Communications and IT ( DEITY) is developing the technology for the system, a senior government official said.

The Mining Surveillance System ( MSS) for major minerals is being developed with the help of BISAG to curb illegal mining with the use of space technology, he added.

Mines Ministry has now asked the states to provide the available digitised lease-wise information for all major mineral leases in their areas for expediting the development of MSS, the official said.

Conforming the development, another official said the issue will also be taken up at the high-level State Mining Ministers' meeting, which will be chaired by Steel and Mines Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, later this month.

The Centre has also strengthened penal provisions to check illegal mining in the country.

The penal provisions for illegal mining cases under Section 21 have been enhanced to a maximum penalty of Rs 5 lakh and jail term of 5 years.

According to the latest government data, 48,467 illegal mining cases of major and minor minerals have been registered in April-September 2015-16. This is against 97,149 in 2014-15, 88,689 in 2013-14 and 98,597 in 2012-13.

As per the action taken report, 14,458 FIRs have been filed, 43,091 cases lodged in various courts, 1,81 lakh vehicles seized and about Rs 1,170 crore realised by states during 2012-13 and April-September 2015-16.