State to recover 29cr illegal mining penalty from contractor’s bills

Nagpur: Maharashtra govt will recover a penalty of nearly 29 crore imposed for illegal minor mineral extraction in the Sarangwadi storage reservoir project in Buldhana district by deducting the amount from the contractor's pending bills, revenue minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule informed the Assembly on Wednesday.The issue surfaced during Question Hour after legislator Shweta Mahalle raised concerns about alleged large-scale illegal mining carried out by Waterfront Construction Private Limited at the Sarangwadi project in Mehkar taluka.Mahalle told the House that the irrigation project, sanctioned in 2009 to improve water availability for farmers in Chikhli and Mehkar, remains incomplete even after more than a decade. However, govt inquiries found the contractor installed crusher machinery and carried out extensive extraction and transportation of minor minerals in reservoir area without the required permissions.According to Mahalle, two separate inquiries into the violations imposed penalties on the company. The first probe resulted in a fine of 6.22 crore, while the second inquiry levied an additional 22.56 crore penalty. Together, total penalty of about 29.18cr was imposed on the company in 2018.In reply, Bawankule confirmed that the company carried out mining operations in Sarangwadi reservoir area without obtaining permission from the district collector, environmental authorities, or other competent agencies. He said the contractor also failed to comply with regulatory requirements such as payment of royalty and adherence to environmental norms."As a result, a penalty of about 29 crore was imposed," Bawankule told the Assembly. He added officials from Water Conservation department provided written information indicating the contractor had around 40cr pending with the govt. "The process was initiated to recover the penalty amount directly from these pending bills," he said.