MAHARASHTRA MINOR MINERAL EXTRACTION (DEVELOPMENT AND REGULATION) (AMENDMENT) RULES, 2017

PREAMBLE

In exercise of the powers conferred by section 15 of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (67 of 1957), and of all other powers enabling it in that behalf, the Government of Maharashtra hereby makes the following rules further to amend the Maharashtra Minor Mineral Extraction (Development and Regulation) Rules, 2013, as follows, namely:

Rule - 1.

These rules may be called the Maharashtra Minor Mineral Extraction (Development and Regulation) (Amendment) Rules, 2017.

Rule - 2.

In rule 2 of the Maharashtra Minor Mineral Extraction (Development and Regulation) Rules, 2013 (hereinafter referred to as "the principal Rules"),

(a)      in clause (h), after sub-clause (i), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:

"(i-a) for the purpose of granting of quarry lease under rule 9, for the purpose of granting permission for transfer of quarry lease under rule 45 and for the purpose of issuing license for stocking and selling of minor mineral under Chapter VI of these rules, the Collector or Additional Collector of the concerned district; and";

(b)      in clause (q), the word "limestone," shall be deleted.

Rule - 3.

For rule 9 of the principal Rules, the following rule shall be substituted, namely:

"9. Mode of granting quarry lease:

(1)     Subject to the provisions of these rules, mineral concessions for quarry lease on any land vested in the Government or any public authority may be granted by the Competent Authority by way of public auction:

Provided that, grant of quarry lease on a private land in the name of the occupant or holder of such private land shall be exempted from auction process and may be granted to such occupant or holder upon his application. However where the occupant or holder of a private land is desirous of leasing his land to another person for quarrying, such occupant or holder shall give his written consent in that regard to the Collector who shall then put quarrying rights in such land to auction for specified period in which case, the amount realized in auction shall be credited to the Government and the amount of surface rent as decided by the Government from time to time, will be given to the land holder:

Provided further that, the practice of granting quarry lease or permit upon application shall be continued in case of Kumbhar and Vadar families which wish to do such mining for pursuing their traditional business:

Provided further that, the provisions of this rule, shall not apply to any case where prospecting licence or mining lease had been granted but mining lease deed could not executed before the date of publication of the Government of India Gazette notification No. F. No. 5/1/2015-M.M. Dated 10th February 2015 declaring 31 major minerals as minor minerals.

Explanation 1for the Purposes of this rule, "Public Authority" means any authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted,

(a)      by or under the Constitution of India;

(b)      by any law made by the Parliament;

(c)      by any law made by the State Legislature; by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes any body owned, controlled or substantially financed by the Central Government or the State Government.

Explanation 2 for the Purposes of this rule, "Surface rent" means rent, payable by the lessee for the surface area, leased to him for the purpose of mining, at the rates prescribed by the Government.

(2)     A quarry lease may be granted for quarry operation on the condition of payment of lease money including royalty, dead rent, surface rent, water rates payable to the Government and under such quarry lease, the lessee shall have the right of quarrying and disposing of the extracted minor minerals.

(3)     Procedure and terms and conditions for public auction of quarry lease shall be such as the Government may, by an order, specify, from time to time.".

Rule - 4.

In rule 46 of the principal Rules,

(a)      in sub-rule (i), after the second proviso the following provisos shall be added, namely:

"Provided also that, where excavation is required for developing a plot of land, after obtaining the necessary permission from Planning Authority or Competent Authority, as the case may be, no permission of Collector shall be necessary for such excavation, if the Project Proponent informs the Collector about such excavation in advance, enclosing the copy of permission given by Planning Authority or Competent Authority and makes advance payment to the Government, of the amount of royalty payable on such excavation. Upon receipt of such intimation, the Collector shall issue the necessary transit passes to the Project Proponent for transportation of such minor mineral excavated during the process of development of such plot along with the terms and conditions to be followed there for. Project Proponent shall be required to pay royalty in advance for any additional quantity of Minor Mineral to be excavated before exhausting the previous quantity:

Provided also that, the Government may waive levy of royalty or reduce the rate of royalty leviable on excavation of minor mineral required for any vital public project notified for this purpose:

Provided also that, no royalty shall be required to be paid on earth which is extracted while laying pipeline or cable and is utilized on very same place for trench filling and leveling.";

(b)      in sub-rule (viii), after the words "under his lease hold area.", the following shall be added, namely:

"It shall be mandatory for a person, holding a quarry lease, to display at a prominent place on a part of the concerned premises open to the public, the details of such mining lease granted to him."

(c)      for sub-rule(xiv), the following sub-rule shall be substituted, namely:

"(xiv) The lessee shall not carry out or allow to be carried out any quarry operations within such distance from the boundary of any railway line, dam or reservoir, canal, river, nallah, irrigation work, road, and pillars of any bridge or public work or building, as the Government may, by an order in the Official Gazette specify, from time to time, Provided that different distances in this regard may be prescribed for different types of structures.";

(d)      for sub-rule (xxvi), the following sub-rule shall be substituted, namely:

"(xxvi) Every lessee shall keep with a vehicle transporting minor mineral, the transit pass in Form-O, duly certified by the Competent Officer. The transit pass shall be in duplicate and the duplicate copy shall be retained for one year by the lessee. The original copy of the transit pass shall be handed over to the purchaser after unloading such minor mineral at the destination specified in such transit pass. In absence of the transit pass, the minor mineral carried by the vehicle will be treated as illicit and un-authorised and shall be dealt with as per the prevailing provisions of the applicable law.".

Rule - 5.

In rule 52 of the principal Rules, to sub-rule (2), the following proviso shall be added, namely:

"Provided that, after the completion of prospecting or mining operations, it shall be permissible to use the closed mining area for rain water harvesting, fishery, water sports and dumping site for management of solid-waste and debris, with the permission of the Collector.".

Rule - 6.

In rule 66 of the principal Rules,

(a)      for sub-rule (14), the following sub-rule shall be substituted, namely:

"(14) Every permit holder shall keep with a vehicle transporting minor mineral, the transit pass in Form-O, duly certified by the Competent Officer. The transit pass shall be in duplicate and the duplicate copy shall be retained for one year by the permit holder. The original copy of the transit pass shall be handed over to the purchaser after unloading such minor mineral at the destination specified in such transit pass. In absence of the transit pass, the minor mineral carried by the vehicle will be treated as illicit and unauthorised and shall be dealt with as per the prevailing provisions of the applicable law.";

(b)      after sub-rule (15), the following sub-rule shall be added, namely:

"(16) It shall be mandatory for a person, holding a mining permit, to display at a prominent place on a part of the concerned premises open to the public, the details of such mining permit granted to him.".

Rule - 7.

For rule 73 of the principal Rules, the following rule shall be substituted, namely:

"73. Display of License:It shall be mandatory for a person, holding a dealer license for stocking and selling any mineral, to display at a prominent place on a part of the concerned premises open to the public, the details of such dealer license granted to him."

Rule - 8.

For rule 74 of the principal Rules, the following rule shall be substituted, namely:

"74. Maintenance of records of production and sale for inspection.

(1)     It shall be mandatory for the holder of a dealer license to ensure that the minor mineral dealt with by him, is purchased from a person holding valid authorization or permission for extraction, removal, collection, replacement, picking up or disposal, etc., of such minor mineral and while receiving any minor mineral at the licensed site of stocking, the holder of such dealer license, shall get handed over to him the original transit pass issued by the holder of quarry lease or quarry permit and shall preserve the same for one year and produce the same as and when demanded by any officer authorized by the Competent Officer and any failure to do so shall render such holder of dealer license liable, on the order in writing of the Collector or any revenue officer not below the rank of Tahasildar authorized by the Collector in this behalf, to pay fine up to five times of market value of such minerals dealt with by such holder of dealer license.

(2)     A dealer shall maintain in Form-U, a record of all purchases and sale effected by him of each minor mineral showing the particulars of the source and quantity of purchase and of persons to whom, such minor mineral is sold and a stock register in Form-V and such other records, if any, as the Competent Officer may specify and such records shall be open to inspection by the Competent Officer, District Mining Officer or any other officer authorised in this behalf by the Competent Authority. He shall also maintain a register of such transaction.".

Rule - 9.

For rule 78 of the principal Rules, the following rule shall be substituted, namely:

"78. Transit pass for transporting of minor mineral. Every producer and dealer shall keep with any vehicle transporting minor mineral, the transit Bar-coded pass in Form-X, duly certified by the Competent Officer. The transit pass shall be in duplicate and the duplicate copy shall be retained for one year by the producer or dealer. The original copy of the transit pass shall be handed over to the purchaser after unloading such minor mineral at the destination specified in such transit pass. In absence of the transit pass, the minor mineral carried by the vehicle will be treated as illicit and un-authorized and such vehicle along with such minor mineral shall be dealt with as per the prevailing provisions of the applicable law.".

Rule - 10.

In rule 80 of the principal Rules, in sub-rule (1), after the words "mining officer" the words, "Revenue officers, officers working in the Directorate" shall be inserted.