Basavaraj Belavadi
Addressing a news conference on Monday, association president Basavaraj Belavadi said the department had imposed penalties totalling Rs 26 crore on more than 46 quarry and crusher operators in Haveri district. The department has alleged violations of lease conditions and extraction beyond permitted limits, calculating mining records from 2006 onwards. Surveys conducted before 2006 did not use the methods currently employed by the Karnataka Remote Sensing Applications Centre, according to him. Crusher owner KB Ballari said contractors were facing a double revenue burden, with govt departments collecting Rs 70 per tonne as royalty for public works while the Mines Department was demanding an additional Rs 140 per tonne.
He said modern drone-based surveys measure surface changes and therefore require a distinction between old mining activity and extraction carried out during the present lease period. He also objected to the mandatory installation of GPS devices in lorries transporting stone from mining sites, citing poor network connectivity in quarry regions.