Joda/Jhumpura: Even as the mines department has allegedly failed to check illegal mining despite various monitoring measures in Joda mining circle of Keonjhar district, forest officials have been successful in catching illegally extracted minerals in some cases, a report said.
According to the report, a heavy vehicle with registration OD-15-0386 was carrying huge quantities of illegally mined manganese from Nayagad forest late Monday night.
A team of forest officials made surprise raids in the forest and seized the vehicles.
Champua ranger Ghasinath Patra said, following a directive from Keonjhar DFO, a squad of forest officials from Champua, Joda, Balibandh and Bamebari conducted night patrolling late Monday night when they caught the truck with 35 tonnes of high grade iron ores. However, the driver managed to escape under the cover of darkness.
Illegal mining activities are allegedly on the rise in Joda mining circle. It may be noted here that a few days ago, some local youths had detected piles of manganese in a bushy area, just 500 metres from Joda police station and the office of the joint director of mines. The manganese was seized and the mineral was worth over Rs 1 lakh.
The illegally mined manganese weighing over 10 tonnes was covered under palm leaves amid bushes.
PNN