[1]Companies and individuals involved in illegal mining in the state could get away lightly if the recommendations made by the Supreme Court appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC) are accepted.
While the Karnataka Lokayukta put the money made from export of 2.98 crore metric tonnes of illegally extracted iron ore at Rs 12,228 crore between 2006 and 2010, the penalty recommended by the CEC will fetch the state a mere Rs 2066 crore in compensation .
Noting that a large portion of the 11,153.16 hectares given to 166 mining leases lay in reserved forests and the companies in question had encroached on another 1,580 hectares for illegal mining, the CEC in its final report submitted to the apex court on February 3 had recommended levying a penalty of Rs 5 crore for every hectare under illegal mining and of Rs 1 crore for every hectare used for dumping of mineral waste outside the lease area.
With the Joint Survey team headed by the CEC finding 325.99 hectares under illegal mining and 435.82 hectares turned into an illegal dumpyard for mineral waste, the penalty suggested could fetch about Rs 1630 crore for the first irregularity and about Rs 436 for the second. Strangely, the CEC has not recommended penalty for laying of illegal roads in reserved forests
Convenor of the,NGO, Samaj Parivartan Samudaya S R Hiremath, who brought illegal mining in the state to the Supreme Court's attention, claims there is a fundamental change in the CEC 's attitude since April last when it had made significant recommendations to protect the environment. “Of late, the CEC has been teaching illegal miners how to go about mining. This is a serious failure,” he charges.
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