<p>A private company has been allegedly extracting high-quality Shahbad stone slabs illegally at Wadi and villages near Chittapur in Gulbarga district for the past several years.<br /><br /></p>.<p>According to Ashok Dahinde and Nariman Irani, the shareholders of Wadi Stone Marketing Company, the firm was quarrying stone even after its lease had expired in 1992. <br /><br />The company was given the mining lease by the then Hyderabad government in 1952 for a period of 20 years. After the re-organisation of Karnataka, the lease period was renewed for another 20 years up to 1992.<br /><br />Defaulted on payment<br /><br />The State government did not renew the lease further as the company defaulted on payment of royalty and other statutory dues. <br /><br />A dispute arose over the demand of arrears raised by the Mines and Geology Department. <br />The High Court of Karnataka, in June last year, upheld the demand for arrears. <br /><br />According to sources, the department has issued notices to recover the dues of Rs 30 crore, and the revenue authorities are yet to act on it.<br /><br />Dahinde and Irani had been running from pillar to post with petitions seeking to stall the illegal quarrying. <br /><br />They have approached the tahsildar, the regional commissioner, and the director of the Mines and Geology Department in this regard.<br /><br />The regional commissioner directed the deputy commissioner on December 2, 2011, to inspect the quarry site and initiate suitable action. <br /><br />No action, yet<br /><br />However, there has been no action even after six months of the direction. <br /><br />The Director of Mines and Geology, Bangalore, on February 2, 2012, ordered the Deputy Director of the Department in Gulbarga to conduct a spot inspection and file a first information report. The inspection is yet to be carried out.<br /><br />Dahinde and Irani have also alleged in their petition that the company had been illegally alienating large portions of the quarry land to stone cutters, without any authority.<br /><br />‘Officers mute spectators’<br /><br />According to sources, Wadi and the surrounding areas have become hotbeds of illegal quarrying. <br /><br />“About 90 per cent of the quarrying is illegal,” said an official of the Mines and Geology Department who retired from service recently.<br /><br />“All the officers concerned have become mute spectators to the plundering of mineral wealth. A probe by the Central Bureau of Inestigation will certainly reveal that it is another Bellary,” said Dahinde and Irani.</p>
<p>A private company has been allegedly extracting high-quality Shahbad stone slabs illegally at Wadi and villages near Chittapur in Gulbarga district for the past several years.<br /><br /></p>.<p>According to Ashok Dahinde and Nariman Irani, the shareholders of Wadi Stone Marketing Company, the firm was quarrying stone even after its lease had expired in 1992. <br /><br />The company was given the mining lease by the then Hyderabad government in 1952 for a period of 20 years. After the re-organisation of Karnataka, the lease period was renewed for another 20 years up to 1992.<br /><br />Defaulted on payment<br /><br />The State government did not renew the lease further as the company defaulted on payment of royalty and other statutory dues. <br /><br />A dispute arose over the demand of arrears raised by the Mines and Geology Department. <br />The High Court of Karnataka, in June last year, upheld the demand for arrears. <br /><br />According to sources, the department has issued notices to recover the dues of Rs 30 crore, and the revenue authorities are yet to act on it.<br /><br />Dahinde and Irani had been running from pillar to post with petitions seeking to stall the illegal quarrying. <br /><br />They have approached the tahsildar, the regional commissioner, and the director of the Mines and Geology Department in this regard.<br /><br />The regional commissioner directed the deputy commissioner on December 2, 2011, to inspect the quarry site and initiate suitable action. <br /><br />No action, yet<br /><br />However, there has been no action even after six months of the direction. <br /><br />The Director of Mines and Geology, Bangalore, on February 2, 2012, ordered the Deputy Director of the Department in Gulbarga to conduct a spot inspection and file a first information report. The inspection is yet to be carried out.<br /><br />Dahinde and Irani have also alleged in their petition that the company had been illegally alienating large portions of the quarry land to stone cutters, without any authority.<br /><br />‘Officers mute spectators’<br /><br />According to sources, Wadi and the surrounding areas have become hotbeds of illegal quarrying. <br /><br />“About 90 per cent of the quarrying is illegal,” said an official of the Mines and Geology Department who retired from service recently.<br /><br />“All the officers concerned have become mute spectators to the plundering of mineral wealth. A probe by the Central Bureau of Inestigation will certainly reveal that it is another Bellary,” said Dahinde and Irani.</p>