CEC to meet Chief Secretary on arrival today

Following a writ petition filed by Samudaya Parivartana Samaj, the Supreme Court had asked the CEC to submit a report on illegal mining in Karnataka within six weeks. The three-member CEC includes P V Jayakrishnan (Chairman), M K Jiwrajka (Member Secretary), Mahendra Vyas besides the amicus curiae A D N Rao and Siddhartha Chowdhary. 

The CEC will arrive at Hospet on Saturday afternoon and will meet officials. On Sunday, the Committee will visit Sandur taluk, including the Ramgad Reserve Forest. The committee will then head back to Bangalore on Monday and hold one more meeting with the Chief Secretary and other officers.

The CEC has sought details, and follow up action taken on the Lokayukta report that found 1081.40 hectares of forest area was encroached in the Bellary-Hospet-Sandur region by various mining lease holders. Details of the leases such as - area approved under Mines Act, forest area included in the mining lease, forest area clearance sought under Forest Conservation Act and lease sketches have been sought.