If one looks at the huge rush of trucks loaded with minerals on the National Highway connecting Daitari to Paradip, it will be clear that there is a huge jump in production of minerals in the State.
Now, question arises that while everyone is crying hoarse about the stifling of the mining sector, how come unprecedented traffic jams on the Daitari-Paradip highway are experienced.
As the Shah Commission has already submitted its inquiry report, the mine owners now are hyperactive. Once the commission’s report is presented in Parliament during its winter session, mining activities once again may slow down for quite some time, feel insiders.
With hardly any staff at field level to have a close look at the mining operations, it seems heyday has returned for the big operators in the mining areas. More than 100 officers are facing suspension, Vigilance investigation and administrative wrath for various lapses in these areas.
The minerals dispatch was on the rise during first and second quarters of the fiscal 2013-14. The latest statistics collected by the Directorate of Mines reveal that in comparison to 2012-13, dispatch of iron ore lumps and fines has increased during the April-June and July-September quarters.
By the end of September this year, 34.90 million tonnes (MT) iron ore lumps and fines were dispatched while it was 29.10 MT during the corresponding period of last year.
More than 5,000 trucks carrying iron ore and chromite are reaching the port town of Paradip daily while the capacity of unloading facility at the port is hardly for 1,500 trucks. And the highway, which used to be chocked before the Shah Commission inquiry, is facing the same situation.
In such a situation, RDC (Central Division) Arabinda Kumar Padhee has directed the concerned Deputy Directors of Mines of Joda, Sukinda and Koida to suspend issuance of e-passes to transporters till November 17.
Plying and parking of the vehicles on the NH for days together cause immense traffic problems, including fatal road accidents, for the people of the localities who also depend on this road. In view of this, there was a massive public demand to regulate the lifting of minerals from the mines of Jajpur, Keonjhar and Sundargarh districts.
The meeting chaired by Dr Padhee decided that a maximum of 300 trucks from Sundargarh mines and 700 trucks from Jajpur and Keonjhar mines would move towards Paradip via the Daitari-Paradip NH.