Jaipur, Nov 5
The Rajasthan Mining Department on Tuesday imposed a penalty of Rs 38 crore on charges of illegal mining in Beawar district, an official said.
He said that the action was taken on the orders of the Beawar District Collector against illegal mining under the joint aegis of the administration, police, and mineral department, led by the Raipur Sub-Divisional Officer. The Mineral Department inspected a Karni Kripa Granite firm in the village Amargarh of Chang Tehsil in the Raipur area due to complaints about illegal mining occurring outside the lease area. Upon calculation, a total of 130,110.96 tonnes of illegal mining was reported, with the penalty amounting to 10 times the recoverable royalty. Accordingly, the Mineral Department imposed a fine of Rs 37.73 crore by collecting 10 times the royalty. During the investigation, it was found that the total area of illegal mining was 5,571 square meters, and the area of illegal encroachment was 22,274 square meters. The District Collector had previously received complaints from villagers regarding illegal mining and encroachment by the said firm. To investigate and verify these complaints, the District Collector directed the Raipur Sub-Divisional Officer to reach the site with a joint team to investigate and take action if the complaints were substantiated. Upon investigation, it was discovered that mining lease ML 39/02 was not marked in the revenue records. The remaining two boundary markers were neither found on-site nor pointed out by the Mineral Department. The leaseholder was determined to be conducting illegal mining beyond the lease area and encroaching on Chak land by dumping materials. As a result, a fine of approximately Rs 38 crore was imposed following the action taken by the administration.