Rajendra Kumar Kataria, Principal Secretary, transport, horticulture and sericulture departments, has been appointed to conduct a comprehensive investigation into all the illegal mining activities permitted in forest areas of the State, the High Court was informed by the Karnataka Government.
Kataria will file an exhaustive report on the illegal activities, the court was told.
A HC division bench headed by Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi was hearing a petition filed by Pavan Ramaswamy, managing director of Vanivilas Cements Private Limited, on Thursday.
The HC on February 14, 2022 directed the State to appoint an officer of the rank of principal secretary or secretary to conduct the investigation into illegal allotment of mining permits in forest areas. Considering the submission of the Government about Kataria’s appointment, the HC directed that he should first investigate the issue of whether Survey number 12 and 14 in Kenkere village of Hosadurga Taluk in Chitradurga where mining has been permitted is on revenue land or on forest land. He has to file this report before the first week of June.
Kataria will have three more months after that to investigate into illegal mining permissions across the State and file a report. The State had permitted mining activities on 525 acres of land in favour of Vanivilas Cements Private Limited in 2002. In 2010, the Deputy Conservator of Forests had prohibited mining in Survey numbers 12 and 14 of these lands as they were on reserved forest areas.
The company had approached the HC against this order. During the hearing in February, the State accepted that the said lands were forest land but the Forest Department had not been informed of the licence given for mining activities. The HC had ordered the investigation following this submission.
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