Slew of decisions taken at high level meeting between Karnataka and ministry of coal and mines
Bengaluru: A host of important decisions were taken on Friday at a high-level meeting here between the State and the ministry of coal and mines including the extension of lease at Donimalai in Ballari district and industrial BGML land for the industrial cluster in Kolar district.
"Some important decisions have been taken after the detailed discussions in the meeting today, especially the extension of the lease period of Donimalai mines and distribution of coal," Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa told reporters after the meeting.
Union Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi was present along with the senior officials of his ministry.
Addressing reporters, Joshi said he has asked Yediyurappa, state revenue minister R Ashoka and State Industries Minister Jagadish Shettar to conduct the physical survey of the land in three months.
Meanwhile, the MECL will also explore the entire area to identify the resources available in six months.
"If the mines are found then the state will be benefited by auctioning it and getting royalty over it. If nothing is found then the land, which is not fit for the mining, will be provided to the department of industries for creating an industrial park," Joshi said.
Another major decision taken in the meeting was straightaway giving the G-4 level composite license while auctioning mines instead of time-consuming G-2 level of auction.
This will not only benefit Karnataka but other states as well because the G-4 license means Prospective Licence-cum-Mining Licence.
"After obtaining PL-cum-ML, once you start the work if there is a mineral, you can go ahead, or else there is an exit route also. In that exit route, the only condition is that you should share the data with us," the Union Minister who is also MP from Dharwad, told reporters.
Joshi said the Centre has decided to address the Baranj coal mine project, which is pending for many years.
The mine was given to the Karnataka government many years ago but due to the Mine Development Operatory issues, the exploration did not happen, he added.
Later, the Karnataka government took a decision to resume the mining activities and sent the proposal to the Centre, which has been approved, Joshi said.
Addressing the coal theft issue, a coal controller has been sent by the ministry.
Besides this, the ministry will make an assessment and send it to the Maharashtra government by settling the royalty issue to resume the mining activities at the earliest, the union minister said.
It was also decided in the meeting to ask the Chief Managing Director to reconsider the coal prices sent from Singri mines to Karnataka.
To address the slippage of the grade of coal affecting the thermal power generation, it was decided to set up a better sampling and testing system so that the coal quality is maintained throughout.
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Bridge portion collapses on Jammu outskirts; 3-4 labourers feared trapped, 1 rescued
Jammu (PTI): A portion of a small bridge collapsed in the Bantalab area on the outskirts of Jammu city on Friday, trapping at least three to four labourers under the debris, while one injured worker was rescued, official sources said.
Authorities have closed the road link following the collapse of the portion of the bridge.
The incident occurred when labourers were carrying out repair work on a retaining wall near the bridge that was damaged in last year's flash floods, the sources said.
According to the sources, a section of the bridge suddenly gave way, burying workers engaged at the site under the rubble.
Police, Army and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams launched rescue operations to extricate those buried under the debris. They pulled out one injured labourer and shifted him to a hospital, the sources said.
Family members of the labourers present at the site said around six workers engaged at the site at the time of the incident came under the debris when the structure collapsed. The family members said while two of the labourers managed to escape, four got trapped.
The sources said those trapped included the husband of a woman labourer, a mason, an unmarried labourer and a relative of the contractor.
There was no official confirmation on the exact number of persons trapped under the debris till the filing of this report.
The rescue operations are ongoing.
