Lost: Rs 32,000 crore

Miners get rich at state's expense, says Lokayukta report

Miners get rich at state's expense, says Lokayukta report

The state has given away Rs 32,000 crore on a platter to miners in Bellary, according to information dug up from a Lokayukta report.

Money makers:u00a0 Mining at Bellary

Lokayukta Justice Santhosh Hegde said that between 2003 and 2007, the government gave contractors licences at a minimal price of Rs 27 per metric tonne. But the contractors would extract and export the minerals for Rs 1,400 per metric tonne.

The investigating team estimated the loss on the basis of minerals extracted and exported during these years.

More losses

Hegde said the loss to the exchequer was higher between 2005 and 2007 as the demand for the minerals in the international market had shot up, with prices touching Rs 8,000 per metric tonne.

u00a0Hegde said, if the government had extracted and exported the minerals itself, it would not only have profited but would have also helped to maintain the socio-ecological condition of the areas in and around Bellary.

Pollution problem

He said because of air pollution in Sandur and other parts of the town, people never keep their doors open. The wells and water tanks have been polluted and respiratory diseases haveu00a0 increased, he added.

u00a0Many small-time farmers, looking for a quick buck, had started excavating lands. As a result, the land is now unfit for cultivation and farmers are rendered jobless, Hegde said.

While the report details the nexus between bureaucrats, politicians and businessmen in cheating the government, nothing concrete has been done so far, said officials who were part of the investigation team.