‘Lessees in the districts of Sundergarh, Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj (right) have rapaciously mined iron ore and manganese ore’, SC said. Express Archive Photo ‘Lessees in the districts of Sundergarh, Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj (right) have rapaciously mined iron ore and manganese ore’, SC said. The Centre is now reportedly considering tweaking the MMDR Act to limit the definition of ‘illegal mining’ to mining outside the lease area — under the current interpretation, which takes note of environmental violations within the lease area, state-run Maharatna Coal India Limited stares at hefty fines. Within the lease area, mining in excess of 20% of permissible limits would warrant punitive action, the court said. Fallout in OdishaThe recovery ordered by the court — Rs 17,576 crore, based on the CEC’s rationalised calculation — was much less than the Shah Commission’s estimate of about Rs 60,000 crore.

Source: Indian Express March 28, 2018 18:52 UTC