HIMACHAL PRADESH MINERAL POLICY-2013

INTRODUCTION 

Minerals are non-renewable natural resources essential for mankind and backbone of economic growth of any country. The progressive industrialization and infrastructural activities has led to increased demand and resulting in large scale production of minerals. Although mining and quarrying have been age old practices in Himachal from palaeolithic age as evidenced by the ancient temples and monuments and old workings for metallic minerals reported in Chamba, Kullu and Shimla Districts. But there is no large scale mining activity in Himachal as in some other parts of the country as the State is not a mineral rich State. Almost all the mines are open cast and limited in aerial extant. The important mines of major mineral in the State are limestone, baryte, Silica boulders, quartzite and rocksalt and the important are building stones, slates, clay, sand etc. The mining activities in Himachal Pradesh can basically be categorized under large sector and in small sector. The large sector comprises of major limestone projects for cement manufacture and the small mining sector comprises mining of minor minerals like sand, stone, bajri, slates, shale, clay etc. which are basically building material required to meet the infra-structural development of the state.

MINERAL RESOURCES

Except for minerals limestone and to some extent Gypsum, Magnesite, Barytes, Rocksalt, Silica boulders and Quartzite, no other major mineral, which can scientifically be exploited are reported in the State. Based on these deposits, four cement plants i.e. One in District Bilaspur (M/s ACC Ltd.), two in District Solan (M/s Gujarat Ambuja and M/s J.P. Industries) and one in District Sirmour (M/s CCI Ltd.) are already in operation with total installed capacity of about 9.06 million metric tones of cement per annum. In addition a proposal for setting up of four cement plants with total proposed capacity of about 8.0 million tonnes is in the pipeline. Besides above, a lease has been granted to M/s NMDC for mining of LD grade limestone to be used in Steel Plants at Arki in Distt. Solan.

Commercially exploitable minerals found in various districts of the state are as under :District Exploitable Minerals

Bilaspur :Limestone, dolomitic limestone, shale, brick earth, minor minerals like sand, stone & bajri Kangra Roofing slate, brick earth, minor minerals like sand, stone & bajri.

Chamba : Limestone, roofing slate, magnesite & minor minerals like sand, stone & bajri Kinnaur Gypsum & minor minerals like sand, stone & bajri .

Kullu  : Roofing slate, quartzite crystal, mineral water, semi precious stones & minor minerals like sand, stone & bajri .

 Lahaul &Spiti  : Antimony-ore, gypsum& minor minerals like sand, stone & bajri.

Solan Lime stone, dolomitic limestone, shale, building stone & minor minerals like sand, stone & bajri .

Una : Silica boulders& minor minerals like sand, stone & bajri Mandi Lime stone, rock salt, & minor minerals like sand, stone & bajri .

Hamirpur : minor minerals like sand, stone & bajri .

Shimla : Limestone, shale, quartzite& minor minerals like sand, stone & bajri .

Sirmour :  Limestone, barites, gypsum, shale, quartzite& minor minerals like sand, stone & bajri.

Existing Acts & Rules :

The following Acts & Rules are in operation to regulate mining activities in the State :-

1. Mines & Mineral (Development and Regulation), Act 1957 2. Mineral Concession Rules, 1960 3. Mineral Conservation & Development Rules , 1988 4. The Mines Rules, 1952 and the Indian Metalliferous Mines Regulation, 1961 5. H.P. Minor Minerals (Concession) Revised, Rules 1971 6. The Himachal Pradesh Minerals (Prevention of Illegal Mining, Transportation and Storage) Rules, 2004 notified on 11-8-04.

Need of New Mineral policy for the State of Himachal Pradesh :

Significant changes have taken place in the knowledge of mineral deposits, legal regime governing mineral development and the long term perspective set in the National Mineral Policy, 2008. Thus taking into consideration, the hilly terrain of Himachal Pradesh where mining considerations are different as compared to the plains, ecological and environmental problems particular to the State, and to meet the growing demand of minerals, there is a need to formulate a well defined Mineral Policy to meet the present challenges for the State of Himachal Pradesh.

Objectives of the New Mineral Policy-2013

•  To explore mineral wealth of the State by adopting modern exploration techniques. 
•  To exploit mineral deposit by promoting adoption of mechanized and scientific mining with due regard to the conservation of mineral, mine safety and environmental aspect.
•  Value addition through promotion of processing units and mineral based industries in the State.
• To increase the employment opportunity in the mining sector, particularly in the interior/remote areas of the state.
• To take effective measures for checking unauthorized mining and leakage of revenue.
• To simplify and adequately modify Himachal Pradesh Minor Mineral (Concession) Revised, Rules, 1971.
• To adhere to the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Environment.

 Features of the Policy

For regulating the mining activities in River/ Streambeds, policy parameters/ guidelines have been formulated, Similarly Stone Crushers set up in the State shall be regulated by the Policy Guidelines for Registration Location, Installation & Working of Stone Crushers in H.P. which also include regulations for Hill slope mining.

The features of the new Policy are as under:-

1 Mineral exploration :

Geological Survey of India (GSI) and Geological Wing of the State are the two main agencies which carry out survey and exploration of minerals in the State apart from other organizations, like Oil & Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) Atomic Mineral Directorate (AMD) etc., which undertakes exploration for specific minerals. This activity will be further continued and streamlined to discover new mineral deposits particularly the deposits of building stone and sand over hill slopes to discourage the river/stream bed mining activities. Private entrepreneurs possessing such technology will be engaged for prospecting of new mineral deposits through the process of out sourcing. The State Geological Programming Board shall prioritise the mineral exploration projects and shall finalize the annual programme to maximize the benefits for the State.

2. Mineral Administration :

 Joint Inspection Committee While processing the application for grant of mining lease the area applied for mining lease shall be inspected by a Committee, comprising of following members: -  1. Sub -Divisional Officer ( Chairman )2. Assistant Conservator of Member Forest/Range Officer 3. Representative of H.P. State Pollution Control Board Member (Not below the rank of Jr. Engineer) 4. Executive Engineer PWD or his representative Member (Not below the rank of Asstt. Engineer) 5. Executive Engineer IPH or his representative Member (Not below the rank of Asstt. Engineer) 6. Mining Officer Member Secretary Joint inspection shall be conducted by at least three members viz Chairman, Assistant Conservator of Forest/Range Forest Officer and Mining Officer on the prescribed checklist. Other members may issue separate No Objection certificate (NOC) as per the checklist. The Chairman may co-opt any other member in the said Committee.

b. The site for setting up the stone crusher shall be appraised and approved by a Joint Inspection Committee as mentioned above at Clause (a). For this purpose, representative of Department of Tourism & Executive Engineer, H.P. SEB or his representative not below the rank of Assistant engineer shall be the additional Members of the aforesaid Committee.

The priority for mineral concessions shall be given to Government Department i.e. PWD and IP&H etc. if mineral is required for Departmental bonafide use by engaging Departmental labour.

The priority for mining quarries shall be given to the projects of National and State interest.

Priority will be given to the applicants who proposes establishment of industries for value addition within the vicinity of the mineral bearing areas.  Stone crushers for the purpose of Hydel Project and road constructions shall be allowed to be installed and mineral material generated during developmental activities in road construction & Hydel projects and also muck generated during construction of tunnel shall be allowed to be utilized by such stone crushers.

3. Grant of permit for removal of sand :

 For channelization of rivers/ streams to protect bank erosion, the removal of over accumulated sand from the lands which have become uncultivable due to river capturing may be allowed upto one meter depth in any private land in an area not more than one hectare on permit to the land owner for open sale where the component of sand is not less than 90% and this activity shall be regulated in accordance with the general conditions of River/Stream Bed Mining Policy Guidelines for the State of Himachal Pradesh.

This process of extraction of sand from such points of the river bed will help the channelization and reduce the bank erosion. The permit shall be granted on the recommendations of Joint Inspection Committee constituted for this purpose in accordance with the prescribed procedure & laid down criteria considered necessary for protection of environment & ecology by the Director or any Officer authorized by him in this behalf.

This permit may be further renewed subject to the availability of material and fulfillment of conditions and the total period for such permit shall not exceed three years. 

 Exemption of Working-cum-Environment Management Plan for the extraction of brick earth and ordinary clay categorized “B2” by Ministry of Environment and Forest (MOEF) in office memorandum dated 24/6/2013. The activities of burrowing/excavation of brick earth and ordinary clay upto an area of less than five hectares has been categorized under “B2” category by the Ministry of Environmental and Forest (MOEF) for the purpose of environment clearance vide office memorandum dated 24/6/2013.  The preparation of working –cum- environment management plan shall be exempted for the aforesaid category of mining leases, however the site-cum contour plan with brief geological description indicating the quantity of brick earth or ordinary clay available in the mining lease area shall be submitted through the Registered Qualified Person (RQP) and mining lease may be granted upto Five Years by the Director of Industries. The applied for area/areas for mining lease should be within a radius of five Kilometers and the total area/areas should be less than 5 hectare. The mining leases of Brick Kilns shall be regulated as per the conditions given in the Office Memorandum of Ministry of Environmental and Forest (MOEF) for the purpose of environment clearance vide office memorandum dated 24/6/2013 or as may be prescribed from time to time. 

4. Permission for disposal of Mineral generated other than the mining activities : To meet the growing demand of construction material, permission for use of minerals/material generated during the developmental activities like de-silting of reservoir, development of educational plots, development of land for dwelling purpose, development of industrial plots, excavation of fisheries ponds and other development activities may be given by the Department for utilization in the existing stone crushers. The permission may be granted by the Director or any officer authorized by him in this behalf after charging advance royalty for transportation/use of mineral in the existing stone crushers. The permission to dispose off the extracted/generated material only during aforesaid development activities may be granted by the Department after due verification of extracted/ generated stock by the Committee constituted for this purpose. The permission shall be subject to conditions as may be imposed by the granting authority. 12 7.7 Permits for bonafide use Permit for the mining of sand, stone and bazri may be granted for bonfide consumption for the construction of house as per existing Rule 3 (ii) of H.P Minor Mineral (Concession) Revised Rules, 1971. For the said purpose power to issue the permit shall also be delegated to the Mining Inspector/Assistant Mining Inspector.

 5. Consent/opinion of Panchayati Raj Institutions a. The opinion /consent of concerned Gram Panchayat in the shape of resolution along with the copy of the proceeding register shall be taken for consideration while granting mining lease and permission of installation of stone crusher. It shall be incumbent upon the Gram Panchayat to issue its opinion/consent or convey refusal within a period of three months failing which it shall be construed that Gram Panchayat has no objection. In case of refusal of grant of consent or raising any objection by the concerned Gram Panchayat, it shall be a supported by sufficient reasons for such refusal/objection. The objection shall be reviewed/ decided by the authority higher to the granting authority in the Department after taking input/opinion from the line Department. b. Copy of the grant order of mining lease and provisional registration of stone crusher shall be provided to the concerned Gram Panchayat for information.

6. Systematic and Scientific Mining (a) In rule 21(4) of the H.P. Minor Mineral (Concession) Revised Rules-1971 containing the provision for preparation and approval of Working cum Environmental Management Plan (WEMP), the provisions of Progressive Mine closure plan, Final Mine closure plan, financial assurance for the satisfactory compliance of the provisions contained in the mine closure plan and possible precautions to be taken for the protection of environment and control of pollution shall be made in consonance with the guidelines circulated by the Ministry of Mines & Environment (MOEF) for mining of minor minerals including the river bed mining and the draft rules circulated by the Indian Bureau of Mines pertaining to minor minerals (Conservation and Development) Rule-2010.

(b) For proper implementation of proposals made in the mining plan and to ensure scientific mining, the leaseholder will appoint technical person with minimum experience of twenty years rendered in the supervising capacity of mining. One such person shall not engage himself for more than 10 lease or 100 Hect of lease area whichever is less. 

7. Steps to check illegal mining : Illegal mining leads to unscientific & haphazard mining, therefore, emphasis has to be given to check the menace of illegal mining. It has been noticed that illegal mining mostly takes place on Govt. lands largely belonging to Revenue & Forest Department. Henceforth there is a need for action by the custodian Departments of such land from where this material is sourced. It would be the responsibility of such Department/custodian of such land to promptly initiate action to prevent illegal mining for which they have adequately been empowered under relevant act/statutes.

2. It shall be incumbent on the concerned Department whose public property is damaged or caused to be damaged by illegal mining to file First Information Report (FIR) with Police for damaging public property besides filing case of illegal extraction in the competent court of law.

3 .In case any working stone crusher registered as such on enquiry is found to be involved violating any of the conditions prescribed at the time of approval/registration of such unit may be imposed a penalty/fine to be prescribed under the rules. Subsequent violation if any would be dealt with severely and attract besides penal provision stringent action which may include disconnection of electricity or deregistration of unit and cancellation of lease/working permit etc. Similar provision shall be made for the stone crushing unit being run on DG Sets.

4. The finished product i.e. grit, sand etc. shall also be transported with color coded M-Form / transit pass issued by the concerned Mining Office.

5. In order to check the misuse of “M” Form the system for its issue shall be reviewed and modernized by adopting Bar Coding and to make it more scientific, transparent and accountable.

6 .The unauthorized mineral material seized during checking/ raids shall be put to auction within a period not exceeding one month by the Committee comprising of the following:-. 1- Sub Divisional Magistrate Chairman 2- Deputy Superintendent of Police Member 3- Assistant Conservator of Forest / Range officer Member This Committee shall follow the prescribed procedure and the Chairman can co-opt any 14 other member for this purpose.

7. To encourage public participation and create public awareness about the ill effect of illegal mining on the environment & ecology frequent interaction with the Public representatives and opinion makers at local level shall be actively encouraged.

8.The mineral concession holder will fix sign board at the conspicuous prominent place near concession area depicting all relevant details of mining lease like area, period of permission, purpose of lease etc. for the information of general public. People including mining lessee will be encouraged to report cases of any illegal mining to concerned Mining Officer and other authorized Officers for taking appropriate action as per Law.

9 .To review the complaints relating to illegal mining a dedicated toll free number shall be installed/ activated in the office of State Geologist.

10. Regular review of illegal mining activities and action taken to stop them shall also form part of agenda of meeting taken by the Deputy Commissioner on quarterly basis and report to this effect shall be submitted to the Director of Industries/Government regularly.

11. Periodic interaction between the lease holder and Department will be organized to redress the problems/issues of the mining industry.

12. A comprehensive review of the manpower needs of the Department will be undertaken to ensure that adequately trained manpower at all levels is provided for scientific exploration of minerals in the State & to check the menace of illegal mining effectively.