Joda: Sirajuddin and Co, which has allegedly been involved in mining irregularities, has been facing back-to-back raids by Central teams for the last few months.
A team of the Union ministry of mines led by its director Prithul Kumar along with senior officer of Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM), Bhubaneswar, Prem Prakash inspected Balda mine of the company at about 12 pm Friday.
Though the objective of the team’s visit was properly hidden, Kumar said his visit was meant to assess the impact of new regulatory systems and MMDR Act in Joda mining circle.
During the visit, the authorities of the firm had denied access to media men into the mining area, but the latter entered the mine with permission from the deputy director of mines, Joda circle.
While Kumar was on his way to the mine, local people affected by mining activities at Blada, Palasa, Jajanga, Jalhari, Badakalimati shouted slogans against the firm.
The company authorities took an alternative way to evade the protesters and showed the team a garden and a rainwater harvesting project.
Despite this, some villagers managed to come close to the visiting officials and brought a host of complaints against the company management.
Ranjit Nayak, sarpanch of Balda, alleged that the mining firm has been operating in the area for over 100 years, but has failed to carry out developmental works in peripheral areas.
During public hearing programmes, the company management makes promises but later forgets to implement them, he said.
A local woman, Kamala Nayak, alleged that the company had signed an agreement with the villagers to meet their various demands, but has not even built a school or hospital for welfare of locals.
Rampant mining activities impacted paddy cultivation in the area, she claimed.
Asked about the allegations, Kumar said the company management has not yet intimated them in this regard. “We only know such allegations from media reports,” he noted.
An official of Sirajuddin mine, Nihar Ranjan Nayak, refused to make any comment.
Reliable sources said the director of mines will inspect Joda East mine of Tata Steel and visit Bolani mine owned by the Steel Authority of India Limited. PNN