Dantewada: The district administration in Dantewada, Chhattisgarh has imposed a fine of Rs 1620.49 crore on the National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) for alleged violation of mining laws, officials said on Saturday. The mining operation of the central government company NMDC is going on in the Bailadila hills in Kirandul and Bacheli area of Dantewada district of Bastar division.
NMDC has termed this move of the district administration as ‘completely unfair’ and claimed that the fine has been imposed without considering the facts and circumstances of the case. Dantewada District Magistrate Mayank Chaturvedi, in a letter written to NMDC on August 29, has directed to deposit the fine amount within 15 days.
The letter said that iron ore mining leases have been granted to NMDC for Deposit No. 14 ML over an area of 322.368 hectares, Deposit No. 14 NMZ over an area of 506.742 hectares and Deposit No. 11 over an area of 874.924 hectares in Kirandul village under Bacheli tehsil of Dantewada district.
“The explanation furnished by NMDC to the show cause notice issued earlier by the district administration was not satisfactory. Hence, NMDC has violated Rule (4)(1) of the Chhattisgarh Mineral (Mining Transportation and Storage) Rules, 2009,” it said.
According to the letter, “For this violation, a total penalty of Rs 16,20,49,52,482.00 is imposed on the basis of market value of the mineral and royalty under Rule (5) of the Chhattisgarh Mineral (Excavation, Transportation and Storage) Rules, 2009 and Section 21(5) of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957.” Chaturvedi did not respond when contacted for information about the show cause notice.
Reacting to the penalty, NMDC said in a statement, “The Dantewada District Magistrate has proposed to impose a penalty of Rs 1620.5 crore for alleged transportation of iron ore without Railway Transit Pass (RTP) and thereby violating various provisions of various mining laws.” NMDC said, “It is respectfully submitted that it is totally unjustified to impose penalty blindly without considering the facts and circumstances of the present case.”
The company said, “NMDC Limited is working with valid mining lease, approved mining plan, CTO (consent to operate), CTE (consent to establish), environmental clearance and approval from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. As per Rule 2 and Sub-Rule 1 (D) of Chhattisgarh Mineral (Mining, Transportation and Storage) Rules, 2009, advance royalty is being paid by Kirandul Complex, NMDC Limited to the State Government through Mineral-Online portal, deposit wise, grade wise and product wise and after payment of advance royalty, e-permit numbers are being generated.”
NMDC said, “Since NMDC is making advance royalty payments, Kirandul Complex has not violated any mining rules for alleged transportation of iron ore without Railway Transit Pass (RTP). The state government verifies these records every six months at the time of royalty assessment and has not raised a single objection till date, which shows that there is no violation.”
The company said, “Technically it takes time to finalise the iron ore grade, which causes a delay of two-three days in making the Railway Transit Pass (RTP). However, this does not cause any loss to the state exchequer. NMDC will submit an appropriate reply to the District Magistrate in this regard.”