ILLEGAL MINING: TWO TIPPERS AND A BOLERO SEIZED

Illegal Mining Offence
Illegal Mining Offence

  Mining without licence is illegal. Illegal mining activities had been conducted in Agampur village, near Anandpur Sahib and a case has been registered by the police on the complaint by mining officials on 30/10/2018. Rupnagar Deputy Commissioner along with police officials raided the said area in the village on 28/10/2018.During the raid, two tippers, two earth moving machines and a Mahindhra Bolero were seized from the spot.

 The police has registered a case for the offence of illegal mining under various provisions viz;

  • Section 188 IPC: Disobedience of order promulgated by a public servant.
  • Section 21(1) of MMDRA Act read with Section 4(1) of MMDRA Act: Penalty upto Rs. 5 lakhs per hectare area and 5years imprisonment in case of illegal mining.

 Section 21(5) of the MMDR Act defines illegal mining and it reads, “Whenever any person raises, without any lawful authority, any mineral from any land, the state government may recover from such person the mineral so raised, or, where such mineral has already been disposed of, the price thereof, and may also recover from such person, rent, royalty or tax, as the case may be, for the period during which the land was occupied by such person without any lawful authority.”

  Mining has a lot of harmful effects in the environment that involves Water and air pollution, soil erosion, wastage of land, loss of landscape and beauty of the surrounding area, etc. The government has imposed certain rules and regulations to be followed by the mining industries in the act of mining, on considering the welfare of the environment of the general public. Violating the same will be punished severely since the entire flora and fauna will be affected badly.

NOTE: MMDRA – Mines and Minerals Development Act, 1957.

This post is written by Amritha Kannan from SASTRA, Thanjavur. Dial 7888-356908 for more info.