Jamshedpur, June 10: The administration on Friday constituted a joint task force to tackle illegal mining and related activities across East Singhbhum. The strategy was framed in a meeting held under the leadership of Vijaya Jhadav, deputy commissioner.
Giving information in this regard, ADM Law and Order NK Lal said that after the instructions of the state government, the district administration is serious about curbing illegal mining.
In the meeting organised under this, all the officials were informed about the laws related to the mining department, so that illegal mining could be cracked down in the district. He said that separate task forces have been formed for urban and rural areas. The officers of the Forest Department have also been deployed. Along with this, check nakas are being made at different places. Magistrates are being posted at all checkposts.
He said that the Deputy Commissioner of the district is very serious about illegal mining and she has also given special instructions to all the officials so that illegal mining should not happen at any cost.
The task force, to be led by an executive magistrate comprising personnel from police and forest departments. The task force will tackle illegal mining, theft of coal and transportation from coalfields and close illegal coking units in the coal belt along the inter-state border.
Coal is illegally mined in the hilly forest areas on both sides of the boundary and transported to be sold in the state or outside.
The deputy commissioner and superintendent of police of the district will monitor the functioning of the team. He said the special team to check all illegalities in the coal trade has started functioning from today by conducting operations. “The task force will exclusively deal with all activities related to illegal mining and not used for other work,” said another official.
He said the administration has also decided to involve the villagers living near the forest areas along the border to assist the task force. “There is already a strong opinion among people against the lure of easy money that was driving local youths towards the illegal trade which endangers their lives,” he said.
He also expressed concerns over the illegal mining taking place rampantly in the revenue land and forest land. According to the mining department insiders, the Jharkhand government, at present, collects revenue of more than Rs 100 crore from mining from the three districts of Kolhan division. He said that a district level task force comprising bordering districts of both states would also be constituted.
The district level task force would be meeting every month for better coordination while the state level task force meeting to review illegal mining would be held every six months.
“We want to put an end to the menace and work over it. The new system will ensure that the movement of trucks carrying mines can be detected on the websites. This apart most of the transport documents are bar coded which can easily verify their authenticity,” said the official.
