BANGALORE: The Karnataka State Remote Sensing Applications Centre and the department of mines and geology are locked in a stalemate over the exact amount of area belonging to about 36 mining lease holders in Bellary There seems to be no end in sight to the mining mess in Bellary.
The Karnataka State Remote Sensing Applications Centre (KSRSAC), which was given the task of mapping the mines in Hospet and Sandur area to straighten out ownership discrepancies, and the department of mines and geology are locked in a stalemate over the exact amount of area belonging to about 36 mining lease holders in Bellary, some of them belonging to “influential” mine owners.
According to sources, the KSRSAC has found a mismatch between the data supplied by the mines and geology department and the data obtained through Geographic Information System (GIS).
“The maps supplied from the mines and geology department show that some owners have more land than the area shown by our GIS.
The KSRSAC has asked the department and surveyors from the region to provide a more accurate picture,” sources said. “Sometimes, the discrepancy is just about two to three hectares and sometimes it is over five hectares,” the sources said.
One hectare is nearly 2.5 acres.
From a total of 136 mining leases, over 100 mines have been added to the GIS database presently.
D K Prabhuraj, director of KSRSAC, said he would not be able to comment on the issue without looking into the matter further, as he had taken charge recently.
In a bid to keep the land records straight, the government had initiated the pilot project in Bellary.
The system uses images from the remote sensing satellites of the Indian Space Research Organisations to gather data for the GIS.
A senior officer from the mines and geology department, on condition of anonymity, said, “There has been a slight delay, but it will be taken care of, as officers will re-assess the land holding with the help of GPS and provide accurate data. But the project is nearing completion.” With the fully functional GIS software, mining officials can spot vacant tracts available for leasing and track who owns how much land and where.
The project is expected to make it virtually impossible to smudge mining records. If things go as planned, the pilot will be replicated in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat , Goa , Jharkhand, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh.