BHUBANESWAR: The State Government is contemplating to avoid transportation of minerals to the ports by road and take recourse to the railways only. Minister for Steel and Mines Raghunath Mohanty said the issue was discussed at a meeting presided over by Chief Secretary Bijay Kumar Patnaik recently. But a decision is yet to be taken in this regard, he said and added that the proposal was meant to ease traffic congestion on the roads as the mineral-laden trucks plying on it. Mohanty said this would also lessen the chance of irregularities in the transport of minerals. He, however, said that the decision to avoid transportation of minerals is under the consideration of the government. Meanwhile, in a fresh bid to curb illegal mining, the State Government has constituted empowered committees for expediting implementation of e-pass and activation of checkgates and weigh bridges in Koida and Joda mining circles. Joda circle in Keonjhar district and Koida circle in Sundargarh district are the places which produce more than 70 per cent of the State’s iron ore. Unless transportation of minerals is streamlined, it would be difficult to curb illegal mining, the Minister said, adding two committees have been set up to check illegal activities. State and district-level empowered committees would look after the installation and maintenance of the checkgates and weigh-bridges in Joda and Koida mining circles, he said. The State- level committee comprising deputy director of mines (DDM) and senior officials of Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC) will assess the requirement of infrastructure to be developed in the existing and new checkgates/weigh-bridges and submit an action plan for improvement and strengthening of the same, Mohanty said. Similarly, the district-level committee comprising collector, superintendent of police, regional transport officer and executive engineer of roads and buildings department will oversee operationalisation of weigh-bridges and checkgates as per time schedule. The minister welcomed Justice M B Shah Commission of Inquiry probing the alleged illegal mining activities in different states. “We are cooperating with the commission and continue to do so in the future,” he told mediapersons here on Saturday. Inquiry by Justice M B Shah Commission into the illegal mining activities is significant as this would be the first “independent” body to probe the matter. Earlier, the State Vigilance Department was assigned investigation into the multi-crore mining scam in the State.
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