Former PCC president Niranjan Patnaik has called for an urgent need to expose the political-bureaucratic-business nexus in the mining scam. Reiterating his earlier demand for a CBI probe into the mining scam of Odisha, Patnaik said that the scam which was investigated by State Vigilance was systematically covered-up and white-washed. He asked the Chief Minister to follow Raj Dharma and stop protecting people, irrespective of their party loyalties.
“There are many Sreesanths, Jijus and Chandilas in Odisha mining and they need to be booked immediately. It’s an ugly nexus,” he added.
“As is well known, on the request of the Andhra Pradesh Government the CBI investigated the Obulapuram Mining Company belonging to Reddy brothers of Bellary. Reddy brothers were arrested on the charge that two companies belonging to them had carried out mining beyond their jurisdiction and indulged in illegal mining in reserve forest area.
The CBI had also found that the two firms had carried out unauthorized mining, stealing, smuggling and sale/export of iron ore.
As a result, the Bellary Reddy brothers continue to languish in jail. But nothing of the sort happened in Odisha,” he asked.
The former PCC chief further highlighted that in investigations into the mining scam there is a need to differentiate between three different types of illegalities and fix accountability for them separately. Firstly, lease holders mining beyond approved mining plan and mining beyond jurisdiction. Secondly, mining from non-leased area, this means pure theft from virtually anywhere without the State earning any revenue. Thirdly, relinquished area or areas leased, but not being mined. Most of these mines belong to State-run OMC and Tata Steel. The mines were not guarded as a result there were rampant mining from them, he said.
Beyond the mine owners, the mining mafias, basically thieves with mechanized equipment, were allowed to steal non-lease area or non-operative mines. Trading licenses were issued for regularising illegal mining and transit permits were issued for transportation by road and rail. Once there was a hue and cry, the State arrested some small time thieves and operatives dubbing them as the mining mafia and all of them have by now been bailed out, whereas the big fish escaped accountability, he maintained.