The Supreme Court-appointed central empowered committee has unearthed large-scale illegal mining going on in connivance with officials and public representatives in Karnataka’s Bellary district.
The Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee has unearthed large-scale illegal mining going on in connivance with officials and public representatives in Karnataka’s Bellary district, the domain of Reddy mining brothers and said it is of “colossal” proportion.
In an interim report submitted to a bench headed by chief justice SH Kapadia, the committee said 304.91 lakh metric tonnes of iron ore was exported from the mining zones without valid permit between 2003 and 2009-10.
The court issued notice to the state government and sought its response on various findings in the report. The panel looked into the 266 mines of Karnataka.
In a report bound in five volumes, the committee said since its inception nine years ago it has dealt with illegal mining in Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh and Orissa. However, all these case pale into in front of the colossal illegal mining in Karnataka, especially in Bellary which has 148 mines in 9,527 hectares of reserved forest and 1,341 hectares of non-forest land.
State Lokayukta justice Santosh Hegde also recommended stern action against the chief minister of Karnataka and a number of senior officers.“Yet, the forest cover was reduced to mining belts.
The satellite imageries were wiped out,” the panel said.
The report, placed in a sealed cover, also reveals politically-sensitive documents such as receipt of huge amounts as donations by a trust managed by close relatives of a senior political leader from Karnataka. It also hints at the involvement of a business house and its business associated companies.
It alleges illegal acts of a senior political leader of the state and export duty evasion and income tax evasion by mining company owned by a senior political leader.
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