By Ajith Athrady

New Delhi, Oct 16 (DHNS): The Centre on Saturday launched Mining Surveillance System (MSS), a pan-India surveillance network using the latest satellite technology, to check illegal mining.

Union Minister for Mines Piyush Goyal, who launched MSS here on Saturday, said the new system will cover major minerals, including coal, iron ore and bauxite at present, and minerals like sand, lime stone and granite will be brought under its ambit in the coming days. MSS is a satellite-based monitoring system which aims to check illegal mining activity through automatic remote-sensing detection technology.

“MSS will trigger an alarm whenever there is an instance of illegal mining outside the permitted areas. Karnataka, which saw large instances of illegal mining in the past, stands to gain tremendously from this technology,” Goyal said.

Safety standards

This technology will help design planned development of mining and also provide complete data of labourers working in the sector online, which will lead to better safety standards, the minister noted.

Using MSS — developed by Gandhinagar based Bhaskaracharya Institute for Space Applications and Geo-informatics (BISAG) in co-ordination with Indian Bureau of Mines — cadastral map of mining leases will be scanned initially, which will then be superimposed with the satellite map of each mines. The maps will be verified by IBM officials.

If any unusual activity takes place outside the perimeter of a mine boundary up to 500 metres, the system will generate automatic triggers and same will be intimated to the IBM control room in Hyderabad and subsequently intimated to the state mining officials to verify whether the mine owner has indulged in illegal mining.

If the mine owner is found excavating ore outside his territory, the state government can impose fine against him, said an officer from the Ministry of Mines.

The ministry gradually wants to increase its surveillance area.

Of the total 3,822 mining leases of major minerals in the country, only 1,706 are functional. Digital maps have been completed for most of the working mines and the entire task, including maps of non-working mines, will be covered in the next three months, Goyal said.

The ministry plans to involve public in the system where citizens also can use this app and report any illegal mining activity, the minister said.