Minister asks Mines Ministry to probe alleged illegal mine scam in Odisha

New Delhi: Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram has written a letter to his Mines and Steel counterpart Narendra Singh Tomar, asking him to order a probe into an alleged case of illegal mining in the Koida mining area of Odisha's Sundergarh District.

Oram said that villagers detected the alleged illegal mining operation on October 5 and had informed the local district administration of the same, which in turn confirmed that such an operation was on.

In the letter, Oram states that there is a need for an Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) team to be sent to the Rangra part of the Koida mining area, where the mining mafia is said to be operating in collusion with officials of the state mining department.

The Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) is a multi-disciplinary government organisation under the Department of Mines, Ministry of Mines, which is engaged in the promotion of conservation, scientific development of mineral resources and protection of environment in mines other than coal, petroleum and natural gas, atomic minerals and minor minerals.

Oram further stated that recently he had been informed that between 30 to 40 thousand metric tonnes of iron and sized ore had been retrieved from under a heap of soil, which was worth approximately Rs.100 to Rs.120 crores in the market.

He informed Tomar that he suspected the hand of Rajkumar Daddhichi, the owner of Dadhimati Transport and the owners of six other industries in the illegal mining operation in Koida, and demanded a thorough investigation of the same.