The Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) has ordered suspension of mining operations of Tiffin’s Barytes Asbestos and Paints Ltd (TBAPL) for indulging in “unscientific” mining.
The Chennai-based company has been mining in 191.13 hectares in Bellary. TBAPL was one among the 18 companies allowed to mine in category ‘A' mines after fulfilling stringent conditions. The Central Empowered Committee appointed by the Supreme Court had submitted a report recommending relaxation of restriction on these mines.
The IBM order stated that a lot of discrepancies were found during its inspection of the company’s site at Haraginadona in Bellary in June 2014. The company was asked to fulfill the conditions during an earlier inspection in March 2013.
“...Present workings are highly unsafe and unsystematic. The situation is posing danger to the deployment of men and machinery in the mine,” the order stated. It also said that the company had not taken up reclamation and rehabilitation measures as envisaged in the directives of the Supreme Court in April 2012.
Though the management reportedly submitted a reply stating that plantation work had already commenced, the order stated that no justification was found in the company’s claim of having planted 8,000 saplings. “It clearly indicates the negligence of the management in not giving due importance for the protection of environment thereby defeating the very purpose of approved scheme of mining.”
The order stated that if the violations are not rectified in the current financial year, the Bureau would recommend the State government to cancel the mining lease.