Despite heightened vigil and tighter norms, cases of illegal mining in Jharkhand have seen an upward trend. As per the latest report submitted by the State Government with Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM), the illegal act has gone up from 663 in 2012-13 to 1,162 two years later. The information has come out from quarterly report. The State Government has sent along with other States in the form of quarterly returns on illegal mining to the IBM. “We as mineral bearing State provide details of instances of illegal mining reported in various parts of the State. The latest report has been sent for last three years which has shown upward trend in the illegal mining taking place in Jharkhand,” said a senior official of the Mines and Geology Department. As per the report, there were 663 cases of illegal mining reported in the State in 2012-13 which went up to 901 in 2013-14 and further 1162 in the year 2014-15. “Till the end of the quarter ended on June 30, 2015, 441 cases of illegal mining have been reported within the State,” added the official. Notably Jharkhand figures among major premier mineral bearing States of the country that also comes with a distinction about unreported mining cases. Justice MB Shah Commission had also mentioned the State in its report while probing illegal iron ore excavations and for flouting set mining guidelines for the lease holders. This has resulted into the recommendation to cancel as many as 21 iron ore mining leases and the matter is still pending with the Government. Nevertheless the numbers in Jharkhand are way lower in comparison to other mining States. Maharashtra tops the list with 42,918 cases in 2013-14 followed by Andhra Pradesh with 16,952. Though, both the States have shown an improvement with diminishing cases of illegal mining. Further on the action taken front, Jharkhand took a lead by lodging 1656 FIRs against the violators. “Also 177 court cases have been filed against them besides, seizure of 1061 vehicles and realisation of fine in the tune of Rs 1962 lakh,” said the official quoting the report. Matters relating to illegal mining come under the legislative and administrative jurisdiction of State Governments which are empowered, under Section 23(C) of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (MMDR Act, 1957) to make rules for prevention of illegal mining, transportation and storage of minerals. On its part, the Ministry of Mines has constituted a ‘Central Coordination-cum-Empowered Committee (CCEC)’ under the Chairmanship of Secretary (Mines). Different relevant departments and mineral bearing states, including Jharkhand are members of it. The CCEC holds quarterly meetings to consider and review all mining related issues, including matters related to illegal mining and the steps being taken by the state governments in detecting and preventing illegal mining.