There are 99 mining leases in the Bellary-Hospet forest region of Karnataka with allegations of encroachments and illegal mining outside the demarcations. Rapping the Centrally Empowered Committee (CEC) for not carrying the previous survey properly, the Supreme Court formed a new team comprised of representatives from the CEC, the Forest and Mines and Geology departments of the State Government and the Karanataka Lokayukta. The team would conduct fresh surveys of all 99 leased mines and if any encroachment was found, … Read More