AP suffers Rs 100 crore loss due to illegal mining in two districts

Khammam: Illegal quarrying is continuing to cause major losses to the government.

Lack of proper checks and other details have deeply dented the government’s fiscal situation, with contractors taking leased lands for quarrying granite, sand and other materials.

The ‘illegal profits’ of these contractors is estimated at Rs 100 crore per year only from the Khammam and Bhadradri-Kothagudem districts.

A contractor took a three-acre lease from the government for mining granite near Maddulapalli under Khammam Rural mandal.

As per the contract, the contractor should not cross his leased extent of land for mining. But he took up quarrying on land other than his own that was leased out by the government.

Even the locals complained of blasting conducted by the contractor that caused breaking of the walls of their houses. If this continues, the government will lose crores of rupees in the form of lease amount on one side and mining cess on the other side.

There has been no action taken against the contractor, though irregularities were found in the quarry. There are 227 granite quarries that obtained permissions from the government and currently work is being done in 155 quarries.

In another clear case of violation, a contractor in Vedullacheruvu village under Tirumalayapalem mandal took up mining in the land, which was adjacent to his quarry. The officials washed their hands by issuing a notice and no further action was taken.

Minerals like black and coloured granite are said to be precious and there is a lot of demand for it in the country and abroad.

Apart from this, stone, metal, dolomite, mica, quartz, sand and gem stones are also available in the two districts.

The quarries used to lease out for 15 to 20 years and the contractors could extend the lease by applying for it.

The granite mining is being done over 5,000 acres of private land in Khammam district.

In actual terms, the extent will be above 10,000 acres. Currently, it’s an easy task for contractors to answer to the notices issued by the officials and start mining in their quarries.

There are 10 to 15 contractors in Khammam earning more than '2 crore per month with just quarrying granite and selling. The payment of the ‘cess’ being paid by them will not match their revenue.