Short staffed to control illegal mining

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CHITRADURGA: Over a thousand hectares of revenue and forest land in the district are under illegal mining and the department of mi..

CHITRADURGA: Over a thousand hectares of revenue and forest land in the district are under illegal mining and the department of mines and geology has not been successful in stopping this menace. It was evident when Express did a spot check on Wednesday at Siddagondavanahalli (Hosur Bhovi Hatti) mines belonging to influential persons, revealed of rampant illegal mining. Mining was done in several hectares of the revenue land without the consent of the department.
Short on LabourEven though the district has rich mineral deposits, the department which is supposed to stop this menace is crippled with shortage of staff. Only a deputy director and two geologists are guarding 3,287.41 hectares of land scattered over four vast taluk areas leased out to 53 companies. Deputy director of department of mines and geology NM Udayashankar told Express that, "With a very limited staff, we are trying hard to stop illegal mining, but it is not possible to contain it." "We have requested the government to depute three more geologists who can assist us in our work, but we haven't got a positive reply," remarked the deputy director.

He said that during the day we can keep a watch on the area, but during the night hours the smugglers use stateofart equipments which can extract thousands of tonnes within hours."

Udayashankar also said, two teams have been formed by the district level task force to stop this menace. First team comprising of DAR (District Armed Reserve) and officials of the department of mines and geology work from 6 pm to 1 am and the second team comprising of officials of mines and geology and revenue department patrols the area from 1 am to 7 am in the morning. Since the teams have been set up, illegal mining has come under control, he added.