M A I N   N E W S

A TRIBUNE EXCLUSIVE
Royalty evasion of Rs 25 cr
Plundering of minerals
Yoginder Gupta
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 2
To offset part of the loss caused to the state exchequer by the closure of mining activities within a radius of 5 km of Delhi under a Supreme Court order, the Haryana Mining and Geology Department has begun to tighten the noose around habitual evaders of royalty payable on precious minerals.

The department recently detected evasion of royalty worth about Rs 25 crore in slate mining in Rewari district.

The then Director, Mining, Mr Ram Niwas, received a complaint, purportedly from residents of Kund village, that a lease-holder had not only pilfered government royalty on a large scale but had also not paid the dues of the villagers. Mr Ram Niwas constituted a three-member team, comprising two Assistant Mining Engineers, Mr I.K. Khurana and Mr Parvesh Sharma, and a Surveyor, Mr Suresh Sharma, to conduct an inquiry into the complaint.

According to sources in the department, the inquiry team assessed the evasion of royalty to the extent of about Rs 25 crore. The assessment was based on debris lying on the spot. The value of the minerals extracted is estimated to be about Rs 50 crore.

It is to the credit of the members of the inquiry team that not only were they prompt in assessing the evasion but they also resisted all sorts of pressures (and temptations)that must have come their way during the course of the inquiry. Their efforts stand out when viewed against the backdrop of a similar inquiry being conducted by the CBI in Faridabad district.

The CBI, under the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, is investigating into the allegations of illegal mining in Faridabad district. It reportedly paid a fee of about Rs 1.35 lakh to the Indian School of Mines a few months ago for making an assessment of the minerals extracted from the controversial area. The report is still awaited. When contacted, Mr Ram Niwas’s successor, Mr H.S. Dhankar said since he had joined only a few days ago, he was yet to see the report. Therefore, he said, he was not in a position to comment.

The Chautala government, by introducing auction for the grant of mining rights, has made a sincere effort to check the looting of the state’s minerals by unscrupulous elements, which, however, virtually had a free hand in the first two years of this government. But still more needs to be done to save the state from habitual plunderers.