By an order of Joint Director of Mines (JDM), Joda ,despatch of iron ore from Sarada Mines Private Limited to Jindal Steel and Power Limited( JSPL) situated at Deojhar near Barbil of Keonjhar has been stopped since October 22 till further orders.
The Sarada Mines situated in three adjoining villages such as Soyabali, Balita and Thakurani has been asked to stop the despatch activities.
JDM Joda Salil Behera said that a team of State Level Enforcement Squad (SLES) of the Director of Mines had inspected the mines on October 6.
Basing on the observation, he was asked to take action against the lease holder, said Behera.However, sources close to Director of SMPL Arjun Saraswat Sharma revealed that on October 22 , a show cause notice was issued to them by the Director of Mines , Bhubaneshwar to submit a reply with regard to irregularities in stacking and sampling in the mines.
Simultaneously, another order came from the JDM, Joda to stop the despatch.On the other hand, sources close to the JSPL revealed that they had some stock in the dispatch point of SMPL for which necessary royalty and tax had been paid by them.
Moreover, they have also an order with them from the Supreme Court dated 30.01.2020 to transport the stock from dismatch point of SMPL. So the order to stop transportation is a violation of SC order, the JSPL sources maintained. However, Director of Mines sources revealed that there was some mess with regard to stock permitted in favour of JSPL.
Sources further revealed that Mining Officer Prasanna Kumar Panda and Junior Mining Officer Gokulananda Behera have been suspended over the issue after which there is an atmosphere of fear among all staff in the mining office.