Amit vows for zero tolerance against illegal mining; Cautions violators of stringent action

JAMMU, May 25: Secretary Mining, Amit Sharma, today vowed for zero tolerance against illegal mining while cautioning violators of stringent measures against them for indulging in any such unlawful illegal activity.

Amit Sharma, while chairing a review meeting held with the Mining Department in this regard, issued explicit directions towards imposing heavy penalty against illegal mining besides holding a Zero Tolerance policy against such violations.

Secretary cautioned the public against encouraging such illegal practices and rather requested them to become whistle blowers while pin-pointing such wrong doings in the mining sector. He asked them to completely desist from taking mining materials without issuance of proper e-Challan and making maximum utilisation of e-Marketplace created by the department for sale and purchase of minor minerals across the UT of J&K.

While reviewing overall performance of the department over the last few months, Secretary assessed the current status of e-auctioning of mining blocks in all districts and issued directions towards maximising revenue targets through royalty, fees, penalties, etc. He asked the concerned officers to step up efforts towards creation of new mining blocks in all districts which should be put at e-auction through Single Window Clearance. He mentioned that DMOs are the Nodal Officers for their respective districts towards creation of annual plans for taking up multiplicity of works under District Mineral Fund Trust. He said all efforts are being made to ensure creation of requisite infrastructure and implementation of rehabilitation plans which are mandated under DMFT as per local requirements.

Amit Sharma appreciated professionalism exhibited by DMOs while addressing public issues and concerns, making them aware about online services and usage of portal of the Mining department over the last few months.

Secretary assured that all genuine issues like provision of enhanced IT infrastructure and implementation of technology driven reforms in the mining sector would be redressed in a time bound manner.

Among others the meeting was attended by O P Bhagat, Director Geology and Mining, Vikram K Gupta, MD J&K Minerals, Arun Kotwal, Additional Secretary Mining, Joint Directors, District Mineral Officers, Geologists, Mining Engineers and others through physical as well as virtual mode.