BHUBANESWAR: The State Government has issued show-cause notices to three mining lease holders on charges of violation of Mineral Concession Rules. Show-cause notices have been issued to Indrani Patnaik, KJS Ahaluwallia and TP Sao for illegally sub-leasing mines allotted to them which is a violation of Rule 37 of the Mineral Concession Rules, 1960, Steel and Mines Minister Raghunath Mohanty said.The Government is currently scrutinising cases of five more mine owners and action is likely after getting a final report, he said on Thursday after a review of the performance of the Mines Department at a high-level meeting chai red by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.An expert committee comprising officers from the Mines Department, commercial tax, chartered accountant and financial advisors verified records of eight mining lease holders. The committee detected violations in case of three lease holders.The Government will take appropriate action against the lease holders after getting their reply, he said adding, their lease could be cancelled if their replies are not satisfactory.While 659 persons have been arrested so far for alleged involvement in illegal mining and trading activities, the Minister said the mining lease of Arjun Lodha has been cancelled while the Department has refused to renew the lease of Ram Bahadur Thakur Limited (RBTL).After lease determination of BK Das, ` 69 crore has been recovered for excess mining and notice issued to Indrani Patnaik as per the findings of the State Vigilance. The anti-corruption wing has recommended recovery of ` 1,131 crore from Patnaik.However, the notice has been stayed by the mines revisional authority of the Ministry of Mines. The Department has taken steps to vacate the stay order, he said.While inquiry is in progress in the case of BC Deb and SN Dasmohapatra, the Vigilance has submitted an interim report to the Government on the Deb mining case.Eight government officials were also placed under suspension for their alleged involvement in illegal mining activities, he said.The Chief Minister on Thursday directed for strengthening the enforcement by deploying more squads at district and State levels to curb illegal mining and transportation of minerals.On revenue collection, the Department has exceeded the last year target by ` 330 crore. The target set for 2010-11 was ` 3,000 crore. The revenue collection from minerals this year is ` 1,903 crore as against a target of ` 4,000 crore.
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