By IANS
New Delhi : The parliamentary consultative committee attached to the coal ministry has expressed serious concern over illegal coal miningand called for setting up a special task force to check the menace.
In a meeting Thursday evening, some members said a special central vigilance team should be formed for surprise checks and raids, said an official statement Friday.
Others felt that illegal mining had been thriving with the connivance of police and some bureaucrats and sought stern action against those involved in the malpractice, the statement said.
Minister of State for Coal Dasari Narayan Rao assured the members that the government was concerned about illegal coal mining and had directed coal companies to work with state governments to check it.
He told the committee that the central government had constituted a committee headed by him to look into various aspects of illegal coal mining.