Fearing for the Supreme Court’s possible CBI probe order into Rs 60,000-crore mining scam, the State Government, which has been indicted by the Shah Commission, seems to have initiated a desperate drive to plug all holes in its defence vis-à-vis the scam.
This was evident from the fact that the Forest department on Friday wrote to the Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB) asking to cover all the ore fines stocked in various mines with coir mats at the earliest.
“All such unused and unsold fine stocks shall be covered with coir mats. OSPCB should take immediate action,” said the letter. It may be noted that the Commission in its report has pointed out that more than 120 million tonnes of ore fines are lying in the open in the iron-ore mines in Keonjhar and Sundargarh districts.
The piling of the fines poses a grave threat to water bodies as these are expected to pollute them. It is also a violation of the Water Act, the report has pointed out. The Commission has recommended for the auction of the unused and unsold fine stocks in its report.
“The fines should be auctioned through electronic process. We had also plans to auction the ores. However, the process will be taken up only after the approval of Supreme Court monitored Central Empowered Committee to avoid any legal hassles,” said an official of the Steel and Mines Department.