Maharashtra issues policy on disposal of mining dumps

16-03-14

* State has huge dumps of Bauxite, Iron, Manganese that are proposed to be disposed of through auction

By Kartik Lokhande
After almost 37 years since it issued guidelines regarding disposal of mining dumps, Maharashtra Government has now come up with a policy in this regard. The old guidelines have been replaced by new policy under which mining dumps are to be disposed of through auction.
The move of the State Government is in tune with the policy decision at the level of Central Government. The new policy has been issued on March 15, 2014 by Industries, Energy and Labour Department. As per the policy, which is applicable to mining dumps of major minerals outside the ‘legal mining areas’, the dumps are proposed to be disposed of through auction on ‘as is, where is’ basis. The policy applies to dumps on private, Government, or Forest Department lands.
According to official sources, Maharashtra has dumps of Bauxite, Iron, and Manganese. Most of these dumps date back to the period when there was no technology for mining from such dumps. At many places, the miners left the over-burden dumps on private lands or agricultural lands and the mined area was not reclaimed. The owners of lands with such dumps did not get compensation from miners, states the policy document issued by the Government. Hence, the guidelines issued previously on June 13, 1977 have been repealed and the new policy has been issued.
However, before disposing of the mining dumps, Director of Geology and Mines (DGM) based at Nagpur will issue directions for establishing the mineral deposit in dumps and its quality through a scientific analysis. While doing so, the guidelines set by Indian Bureau of Mines are to be followed. Interestingly, the offset-price for mineral deposits in such dumps will be ‘equivalent’ to mineral royalty at prevailing rates. The royalty-based offset price for mineral deposits in dumps is to be decided by respective District Mining Officer with approval from DGM.
As far as mining dumps on private lands are concerned, the owner will get right to dispose of 40 per cent of the dump on his land at the highest bid accepted in auction process. If the owner fails to deposit the amount equivalent to accepted bid price for 40 per cent of the dump within seven days, the highest bidder will get rights to dispose of the entire dump. However, sources in Department of Geology and Mines said, there is a little ‘area of concern’ in the policy. There is a provision that the highest bidder, whose bid is accepted, will have to obtain clearances from various competent authorities including Environment and Forest Department prior to disposal of the dumps.
The policy also provides for penal action against successful bidders if they excavate more than the prescribed depth and width of the dump. In such cases, the action of contractors will be construed as ‘illegal excavation’ and appropriate action will be taken against them. Besides, during transport of excavated mining dumps, the respective District Collector/District Mining Officer will issue bar-coded transit passes.

What did the Central Committee say?
The Coordination-cum-Empowered Committee (CEC) on Mineral Development and Regulation, in its quarterly meeting held in September 2013, had termed the issue of dump mining as ‘very important and critical’ given the current scenario specifically in the states of Maharashtra and Goa. In these states, there are huge quantities of dumps. Two issues that needed to be addressed by the Ministry of Mines were identified in the same meeting. These issues included removal of ore in excess of quantities approved in the Mining Plan and effective monitoring mechanism. It was stated that the dump area was to be construed as part of mining lease and that dumping was essentially a mining activity.

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