Supreme Court appointed CEC to inspect 11 mines in Odisha

A four-member team of the Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC) arrived in Odisha's Keonjhar district on a four-day visit to conduct field verification of some iron ore and manganese mines allegedly engaged in illegal operations.

The team led by PV Jayakrishna would inspect at least 11 iron ore and manganese mines in Joda and Koira mining circle of Keonjhar and Sundergarh districts. Other members of the team are: MK Muthu, Mahindra Vyas and SK Patnaik.

The team, which is expected to submit its final report on illegal mining activities in the Supreme Court, had earlier visited the state and held several meetings with the state government officials and mines lessees.

"The team during its visit to Joda Koira circles would verify alleged violation of Rule 37, an issue pointed out by the M B Shah Commission of Inquiry," a senior official said.

The team members will undertake field visit till July 14 in the presence of state government officials and mining lease holders. The team members are scheduled to hold discussion with the state government officials at Bhubaneswar before winding up its visit on July 15.

The lease holders have been asked to remain present with all requisite documents during the team's visit, an official said.