Odisha slaps Rs 20,169 cr penalty on MCL

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Mines Department on Wednesday slapped a penalty of Rs 20,169 on Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) over alleged violation of environmental norms and excessive mining.

According to sources, the department has issued a show cause notice in this regard asking the Coal India subsidiary to respond within 30 days.

The notice was issued in pursuant to the judgement of the Supreme Court directing the State to impose a 100 per cent penalty on illegal mining leaseholders.

Sources believe that the penalty on MCL is likely to increase further as the Forest department is yet to ascertain the extent of mining the company has undertaken in forest areas without permission.

Also Read: Illegal Mining: Odisha govt issues notice to 152 leaseholders

Odisha government had in September issued notices to as many as 152 mining leaseholders for engaging in illegal mining and not abiding by environment norms. Among the 152 leaseholders, 47 in the Koida Mining Circle (KMC) in Sundargarh were also issued notice to pay penalty to the State for not complying with the environment related guidelines. As per the order, the leaseholders are required to pay the fine by December 31.

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