Law and Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday said that a detailed ‘mapping’ of the entry of explosives into Karnataka had been ordered in the wake of the recent Shivamogga blast that revealed a glaring lack of oversight on illegal mining.
Admitting that illegal mining, quarrying and crushing activities were taking place all over the state, Bommai said the government is taking legal measures to rein in the problem.
Six people died after a truck full of explosives went off in Hunasodu near Shivamogga on January 21.
“There's a nexus between landholders, quarry leaseholders and explosive suppliers that we need to break,” Bommai said, replying to a debate on the incident in the Assembly.
The government, he said, traced the source of the explosives that came to Shivamogga. “The original supplier is in Anantapur. With the help of the Andhra Pradesh police, we have seized 65,000 detonators, 1,275 gelatin sticks, 540 explosive boosters, 1,500 metres of safety fuse and 7,500 metres of detonator fuse,” he said.
“There’s a big godown that we’ve seized. Once safety experts go in, we will know totally how much explosives were supplied to Karnataka,” he said.
In the Shivamogga incident, Bommai said illegal quarrying was found to have taken place where the explosion occurred.
“The land belonged to one ST Kulkarni who leased it to Sudhakar BVM to run the SS Stone Crushers. The first case of illegal mining was booked in April 2018 and another one in March 2019, after which a crushing licence was given. So, in spite of knowing the illegality, the district administration gave the licence,” he said, suggesting that this was done when the Congress-JD(S) coalition was in power.
“In October 2020, another illegal mining case was filed against the landowner,” Bommai added.
Asserting the government’s commitment to curb illegal mining and quarrying, Bommai said the penalty had been increased from 5 times to 20 times after including the value of the mineral with a two-year jail term. “For illegal crusher operations, the fine is Rs 2 lakh and two years in jail,” he said.
Thousands of cases against illegal mining have been booked since 2014, he said. Under the Explosives Act, authorities booked 58 cases in 2018, 52 in 2019 and 103 in 2020. “Despite efforts, we haven't been able to regulate this effectively,” he said.
Congress walks out
The Siddaramaiah-led Congress staged a walkout unhappy with Bommai's reply. Siddaramaiah insisted on a judicial inquiry, but Bommai said the Shivamogga case will be probed by the revenue commissioner. “No judicial commission has seen the light of day. It will cause delay,” Bommai said.