Graft officials drive Odisha to 100 cr loss

BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha state exchequer has lost nearly Rs 100 crore because of "whimsical" orders by some senior officials of the state forest department. These "dishonest" officers implemented and relaxed forest laws according to their whims and caprices with a personal agenda, according to documents available with ET.


The government took long to realise the evil intentions of these officers and put some of these forest officers under suspension on charges of facilitating illegal extraction of iron ore from BK Mines at Ulibur under Joda circle in Keonjhar district.

On November 11, 2011, one of the three officers posted in the Barbil range surprisingly asked Thakurani Iron Ore Mines (TIOM) and Orissa Mineral Developers Company Limited (OMDC) to produce forest clearances for 655-metre approach road they have been using for mineral transportation since 1953. Soon after, he ordered for closure of the road. This resulted in not only a total halt in iron ore transportation but also caused inconvenience to more than 1,000 local tribals who were using the road since ages.

When the OMDC lease expired in 2005, Thakurani Iron Mines, operated by KJS Allhuwalia Group, continued to use this road till 2012, thus making substantial contribution to the exchequer in the shape of mining royalty, value-added tax and sales tax.

TIOM has a production capacity of over 3 million tonnes of iron ore per annum. According to industry experts, the company lost about Rs 750 core as about over 3 million tonnes of iron ore could not be produced and dispatched. The impasse in iron ore dispatch has deprived the state government revenues to the tune of Rs 100 crore.

"The transportation of minerals of this mine has been doing only through the existing road passes through the adjacent lease, that is of OMDC. As per the Mineral Concession Rules and Clause 6, Part III of Mining Lease Deed, one has to provide access to the neighbouring or adjacent lease area through his lease area but the intentional interference of the forest people has resulted the mine in sick position," said a Steel and Mines Department official on the condition of anonymity.

Three forest officials from Keonjhar forest range were recently suspended due to their involvement in the Uliburu Mining Scam. They are Kartikeswar Mohanty , Pradeepraj Karat and Sarat Mohanty.