New Delhi: The government on Wednesday asked
departments like Railways, Customs and Ports to appoint nodal
officers to check transportation of illegally mined minerals.
"The decision was taken at a meeting of the Central
Coordination-cum-empowered committee, chaired by Mines
Secretary S Vijay Kumar," a senior Mines Ministry official
said.
The committee met here to review measures taken by state
governments and various central departments to curb illegal
mining.
The Mines Ministry had earlier asked the Port and the
Railways authorities to evolve a mechanism to check illegal
transportation of minerals through their services.
It had also sought informations from Ports and Customs
authorities on export of ores.
"While the meeting reviewed all such steps, the states
were also asked to avoid delays in granting mineral
concessions," the official added.
While noting that only 13 states have constituted
empowered committees, the Centre asked them to hold regular
meeting of the committees.
Other matters like steps taken by the Ministry of
Environment and Forests for expediting forest clearances,
adoption of Model State Mineral Policy and efficient handling
of issues relating to Royalty also came up for discussion
during the meeting.
Officials from mineral rich states including Jharkhand,
Orissa and Karnataka also participated in the meeting.
PTI
