True Colours of Pune: Government loses crores of rupees worth of royalty from quarrying

Government loses crores of rupees worth of royalty from quarrying; international traders rake it in
July 13, 2011 11:57 AM

Vinita Deshmukh (this appeared in MoneyLife digital)

An RTI query has revealed that Pune has no record of royalty from quarrying, that has caused loss of at least Rs2,000 crore. Global traders are selling precious mineral stones from quarries across Maharashtra—each miniature costing between $300-$3,000

Pune city leads in construction activity in the country and the 698 quarries in the district is an apt reflection of it. Being tucked in the basin, Pune is surrounded with hills which have become prime targets not only for indiscriminate and illegal quarrying (there are nearly 300 quarries operating, though the validity of their license is over) but also for alleged illegal sale of rare and exquisite mineral stones found in the quarrying sites particularly that of the Wagholi and Pashan neighbourhood of Pune. These are openly sold through Internet sites across the world: (www.irocks.com,www.mindat.com) being a couple of leading sites.

While other countries are extremely strict about quarrying rules and regulations, the example of Pune portrays the complete disregard to this aspect which also has serious environmental repercussions besides indiscriminate looting of natural mineral wealth-this despite the fact that the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) has laid down stringent guidelines in December 2006.

In the State of Maine, USA for example, besides strict mining laws (quarrying comes under it), thewww.maine.gov.in site states that, ``in addition to the general land-use regulations restricting activities that impact such areas as wetlands, beaches, dunes, water bodies, significant wildlife habitat, or other environmentally sensitive areas, there are specific Maine statutes and rules about excavation, mining, and quarrying.'' These include the limited permission for quantity of quarrying, groundwater protection, natural buffer strips for protected natural resources, erosion and sedimentation control, surface water protection and storm water management, noise, dust control etc.

Right to Information activist Vijay Kumbhar was exploring the idea of suggesting to the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), the idea of using abandoned quarries for landfill sites for the disposal of the city's garbage. For this, he conducted inspection of files under Section (4) of the RTI Act to find out the number of quarries- working and abandoned-in and around Pune and those that have been abandoned. To his utter shock, Sanjay Bamne, the mining officer in the Collector's office specially appointed to govern the quarrying operations in the district, declined information. He then filed a complaint at the Information Commission, Pune division which ordered him to make the information public.

Mr Kumbhar also sent a letter to the Collector of Pune stating that
"[A] vast number of illegal quarrying and excavation is going on in and around Pune. Large number of hills, mountains and lands are being excavated without any necessary permission. Actually all such permissions and extensions to them fall under Section (4) of the RTI Act and administration is bound by it to disseminate such information. However, when I went to the district administration for inspection of such documents, the officer didn't show me any document. Then I filed a complaint with the State Information Commission and have also filed an application under the RTI Act.

"In Wagholi, around 10 to 12 kilometres of area is being excavated for quarrying. Each quarry depth is around more than 100 metres. These quarries are visible from satellites also. Most of these quarries are running illegally.

"In Ghotawade near Paud, the Sahyadri Hills are being excavated, Katraj hill in Pune has already been destroyed.

"Pollution related norms/conditions have not been followed by any of the above. (I tried to find some information on the MPCB website, but it was updated long back on 1 September 2009).

"I don't say that every instance of digging or excavation is illegal, but if these activities are legal, why is the district administration hiding the information? What is the harm in disseminating information about how many of those are legal? Have they taken all the necessary permissions? How much royalty they have paid? Actually, all this information must be seen on the website.

"I hope you will take serious note of this letter and ask the district administration to disseminate the necessary information and take action on the illegal quarries and excavations." Thereafter, the Collector of Pune has ordered the survey of quarrying activities in Pune district.

Kumbhar states that, "I would never have known there is a scandal in this issue if the officer had supplied me the basic information of the number of abandoned quarries. The fact that he was avoiding information set me thinking about other aspects of mining rules. I found out that the excavatorhas to pay royalty charges to the district administration for quarrying purposes."

When subsequently the officer supplied information to Mr Kumbhar, it was revealed that 2,500 acres of area in Pune district is used for quarrying—which is equal to 10 crore sq ft of area. When this is multiplied by 200 per sq ft i.e., the depth of the quarry, it amounts to Rs20 crore brass. For each brass, the excavator has to pay Rs100 as royalty to the government that amounts to Rs2,000 crore—the amount of royalty so far that has not been collected by the revenue department. When he asked the officer to show the royalty payment record, he confessed that they do not keep any such records. This is but the tip of the iceberg as quarrying operations are in full swing across the length and breadth of Maharashtra. He has asked for state level information.

The district Collector's office also has no record of the blatant illegal international sale of precious mineral stones acquired from quarrying sites (mostly in Pune district) if the website www.mindat.com is to be believed. Mining officer Mr Bamne states that the excavator must report any such mineral stones found there, but confessed that no one has approached him so far. In the meanwhile, international traders have found rare and exquisite treasure in Wagholi and Pashan of Pune, Lonavala, Narayangaon and Jalgaon.

Following is a shocking example from the website www.irocks.com:

"IND-64 (code of the mineral stone), Carvansite (name of the mineral stone) 'the burning bush'-$3000. Wagholi quarry, near Poona, Maharashtra, India. Miniature: 38 x 3.6 x 2.1 cm.'' Now, read its description as stated in the website which will give you an idea of how precious the stone is: "This is a single rosette composed of individual radiating crystals of cavansite. It exhibits an intense royal blue and is both lustrous and translucent. Aside from the very, very neat form of it, it is one of the finest canvansites for quality I have handled in 10 years and simply one of the most gorgeous of all. Competition, quality miniature this. Not just another representative example you could beat with more money. I have literally seen thousands of these things so believe me I do not rave carelessly on this.''

This website gives stunning photographs of 92 such specimens procured from Wagholi in Pune and Jalgaon. The seller's name is Rob Lavinsky. He has described practically every mineral stone with fantastic photographs, praising the high quality of mineral stones present in Maharashtra and priced them between $300 and $3000- some of them have been sold online!

While entrepreneurs across the world are looting our natural mineral treasures, the district administration is blissfully unaware of this daylight robbery. The mining officer agrees that findings of mineral stones should be reported to him but no one has done so far, at least it is not in the records.

This is a small example of the larger picture across the country where the wealth of mineral stones is being siphoned off by global commercial interests, thanks to lack of governance and passion to save this precious wealth by the relevant government bodies. It is a strong case for the Ministry of Environment and Forests to intervene in the matter and put a full stop to the brazen loot.

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