Minister says HDK’s charges are ‘half-truths’
BENGALURU: Dismissing allegations of a `5,450 crore scam due to illegal lifting of ore in Ballari, Mines and Geology Minister Vinay Kulkarni said that claims made by JD(S) state president H D Kumaraswamy were only ‘half-truths’. The minister said Kumaraswamy had based his allegations of irregularities at Thimmappangudi and Subbarayanahalli iron ore mines in Sandur taluk of Ballari district, on the preliminary report of an enquiry ordered by him. “There is only a small variation in the company ledger and ‘kaccha book’ (rough register) kept at the mines, found by officials during the enquiry,” he said.
He said the enquiry, which was ordered on April 27, 2017, is being continued by senior officials following the preliminary report. After the completion of the enquiry, action will be initiated against persons responsible for irregularities. A notice has been sent to officials in Mysore Minerals Ltd (MML) for dereliction of duty, based on the preliminary report, he said.
Irregularities
Kulkarni said the firm S S Mucchandi bloated the quantity that they had mined to prevent the sanctioned allocation from lapsing at the end of the financial year. In order for the irregularities to be worth `5,450 crore, as claimed by Kumaraswamy, a total of 2,000 truckloads should be mined on a daily basis. However, the number of loads generated at the mines is less than 800, he said.Responding to allegations that 1.8 crore tonnes of ore was illegally mined, he said that in the three years starting 2014, the total quantity of ore mined was around 60 lakh tonnes.