Fake mining permits to transport ore

By Shivakumar G Malagi

March 3, 2010 Bellary: Even as illegal min - ing is under investigation in the state, a Lokayukta team and the department of mines and geolo- gy, (DMG) have come across cases of trucks transporting ille- gally mined ore to ports using photostat copies of the dispatch permits issued by the depart- ment to mining companies.
The department has lodged police complaints against seven mining companies for using photostats of dispatch permits to transport the mined minerals.

The companies in question are the S V Srinivasulu Mining Company, PBS and Sons Min- ing Company, Adarsha Enter-

prises, Ashwath Narayan Singh Mining Company, Abubekar Mines, Sesa Goa and VESCO .
S P Raju, deputy director, department of mines and geolo- gy said trucks of these compa- nies were found transporting iron ore with xerox copies of the permits. According to offi- cials, four bulk fake permit books were recovered from one truck driver alone. The depart- ment of mines and geology issues permits in bulk to mining companies for transportation of minerals from their stockyards to the destinations they are intended for.

The mining firms have mean- while denied the charges lev- elled against them, and have not come forward to claim the truckloads seized by the depart- ment.
The racket was unearthed by a special squad of the Lokayukta headed by chief conservator of forests Dr U.V. Singh which came across the use of photost

copies of permits by mining companies to transport their mined minerals in the Bellary- Hospet-Sandur belt.
The Lokayukta team later conducted a raid on the Belek- eri port on February 20 and recovered eight gunny bags filled with photostat copies of the permits from three reputed Hospet-based transporting firms and booked cases against them, sources said.

It is alleged that some trans- porting companies also run units to print fake permits somewhere in the Hospet-Bel- lary belt to tranport the illegally mined iron ore to ports like Belekeri and that they are backed by a strong political lobby.