Senior BJP leaders like Bijay Mohapatra and Dilip Ray are known as the strong rival of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. But in present development, both are not hesitant to praise certain decisions of the Patnaik Government.
While Mohapatra welcomed Patnaik’ s decision for an RDC-level inquiry to the second Jagannath temple at Puri by Iskcon, Ray has praised the Government decision to keep mining activities under satellite surveillance.
Through social media, Ray has lauded that in a step which was long overdue, but finally taken, the State Government has decided to put all mining and mining related transportation activities under satellite surveillance which will help in maintaining transparency in the mining operations. Properly monitored, the system could substantially reduce theft of minerals and help in augmenting revenue of the Government, he said.
The multi-thousand crore mining scam that rocked the State and exposed the flaws in the operation of the mining sector and caused huge losses to the exchequer had necessitated a foolproof mechanism to monitor exploration and transportation of minerals. The proposed differential global positioning system will help regular satellite checking of mining activities at the ground level and keep the mining department updated on the actual exploration of minerals and transportation in real time.
In the process a complete database of all mineral transactions, including all import, export and inside consumption could be maintained. However, successful operation of the system depends upon vigilant enforcement and the Government should set up enforcement squads for this purpose, he said.
The squad should be provided with all necessary logistics so that they could track mineral bearing vehicles and the role of GPS tracking is important here. Updated earth maps should be obtained from the National Remote Sensing Centre so that accurate DGPS data could be compared and errors in operation minimized. The Odisha Space Application Centre should ensure installation of GPS system and also supervise the satellite surveillance so that any violation could be identified and necessary actions taken.
It will also help in tracking mineral bearing vehicles from source to destination regularly. In another move, e tendering system should be introduced to engage transport agencies, Ray opined.