Joda: The state Steel and Mines department is caught in a conundrum as the Ministry of Railways is demanding rent for over one lakh MT of iron ores lying abandoned in various railway sidings for over last 10 years under Joda mining division in Keonjhar district, a report said Sunday. The iron ores are getting damaged in the open while the Ministry of Railways is asking for rent on day basis which is unreasonably high for the Mines department. The Mines department is caught in a dilemma as it will have to incur heavy expenses in rent to transport the ores elsewhere.
According to reports, miners had stored large volumes of iron ores for transportation on various railway sidings under the Joda mining division in FY 2009-10. However, things took a turn after the Supreme Court-appointed Justice MB Shah commissioned a probe into the mining scam in the state. Justice MB Shah Commission and later the central committee visited the area and conducted verification of documents regarding the iron ores. The iron ores have been lying abandoned in the area after the miners and traders failed to produce the necessary papers in time to prove their ownership of the iron ores.
Currently, people are visiting the Steel and Mines department with the necessary documents to prove their ownership of the iron ores in order to transport them elsewhere but without any success. Dinesh Agarwal, deputy director of Joda mining division said that over one lakh MT of iron ores are lying abandoned in various railway sidings of Joda Mining division. Ministry of Railways is demanding rent for the space acquired by the iron ores as it is unreasonably high. Meanwhile, lots of iron ores have already washed away in the rain which is in contravention of the mineral conservation and development rules of the Indian Bureau of Mines.
As a result, the state government is losing precious revenue while the valuable minerals are gathering dust. Moreover, reports claim that some of the iron ores have even been stolen after lying abandoned for a decade. A mineral expert Jyoti Rout said that the Mines department should make efforts to transport the iron ores in coordination with the Ministry of Railways and the Indian Bureau of Mines. Commenting on the issue, Banshapani railway station manager Dibakar Chandra Mishra said as the dump and loading rules (the moment minerals brought from mines in a truck are unloaded on a railway siding and reloaded in railway wagons within a scheduled time) apply to railway sidings and the Railways charges Rs 175 per wagon per day if the minerals are piled up on the siding for a scheduled period. Each wagon is loaded with over 60 MT of minerals. As the minerals are lying abandoned on the railway sidings for over a decade, it will be highly expensive to pay the penalty and transport the minerals elsewhere, Mishra added.