Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore (SP)
Bangalore, Jul 14: Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde is unhappy that the Herculean efforts he and his team put in to prepare a voluminous report on the illegal mining scandal in the state between the years 2000 and 2006, has not been taken seriously by the state government. He feels, the Action Taken Report submitted to him on July 9, is more of an 'Action not Taken Report'. "It is just a reaction and the action taken is less," he commented.
Hegde said in a press meet held here on Monday July 13 that the report is silent on the action it has taken against the officials after February, the month in which it issued show-cause notices to the officials named in the report. “The chief secretary requested me to allow time till the conclusion of Lok Sabha polls for the submission of the Action Taken Report. Now the report has been submitted, but without taking any action,” he commented. Hegde said, he had painstakingly toured the mining regions and documented the illegal mining. He explained that he had shown how the officials and the mine owners flouted the mining rules to their advantage by de-reserving areas, using patta lands for mining, etc. He commented that illegal mining has been going on even now and whatever action the government says it has taken, remains on paper.
"Our report says Mysore Minerals Ltd had suffered loss to the tune of Rs 600 crore. But the government says the loss is Rs 140 crore, without explaining where the balance amount has gone," the Lokayukta wondered.
On a daily basis, 4,000 trucks loaded with iron ore leave Bellary. The Lokayukta had drawn the attention of the government towards the injury caused to the environment and general health of the people by the trucks. The government has merely said that it has asked the concerned to sprinkle water on the roads on which these trucks move, he stated.
The Lokayukta also expressed his dissatisfaction over the fact that the chief minister has failed to write a letter to the Prime Minister as promised earlier, to stop illegal mining in the border areas of the state.