nDoes your department co-ordinate with the Union government as well as international agencies?

Rana Goswami,

Tezpur

Our directorate mainly co-ordinates with the administrative department of Assam. The administrative department of this directorate is the power, mines and minerals department, which is located in the Assam secretariat complex in Dispur.

nCan you name new schemes or programmes undertaken by the directorate?

Nayan Moni Talukdar,

Nagaon

At present, the directorate has not undertaken any new scheme.

nWhat are the major bottlenecks that the directorate faces while undertaking exploration?

Anupam Das,

Jorhat

The main hurdles, which we have to face, are related to infrastructure and finance. Exploration activities are carried out in remote and difficult terrain, where infrastructure, like road communication and telecommunication, are not available. This is a serious drawback because for proper development of any mineral-bearing area through exploration (including setting up of mineral-based industries), high-quality infrastructure is essential. Financial constraints form another factor, which affects the completion of schemes by the directorate.

nHas the directorate adopted any new technology in recent years?

Robin Nath,

Lakhimpur

The directorate has adopted a modern technique in recent years — the “remote sensing survey”. We have already set up a small unit to initiate work and collected equipment for visual interpretation to locate mineral and groundwater resources in Assam. The directorate has also taken up a scheme for computerisation of the department, computer application in all matters relating to geological data processing as well as realisation of royalty, rent and fee.

nWhat are the criteria for granting mining leases to various organisations by your department?

Maya Nath,

Biswanath Chariali

The grant of mining leases for crude oil, natural gas and minerals are governed by different Acts and rules framed by the Union government. They are applicable throughout the country.

Till date, petroleum mining leases are granted by the state government only to the Union government undertakings like the Oil India Ltd and the ONGCL in specific areas.

These rules are followed by the oil companies in accordance with provisions laid down in the Acts and rules with approval from the Centre. New Delhi has the exclusive power to allot areas of mining leases to OIL and ONGCL.

Insofar as granting of mining leases of minerals are concerned, the mining leases for coal can be granted by the Assam government only to Coal India Ltd, a Union government undertaking, with approval from the Centre. However, the small pocket deposits of coal where Coal India Ltd is not interested to develop any mine, a state government undertaking may be granted lease for mining of coal. The Assam Mineral Development Corporation Ltd. has carried out mining operations in the Garampani area of North Cachar Hills. However, for minerals, limestone, china clay, granite and silica, the state government has exclusive powers to grant mining leases to any government or private agency.

Q:What steps has your department undertaken to explore the groundwater resources of the region?

Rajiv Goswami,

Tinsukia

A:Exploration conducted by this department for groundwater is similar to work carried out for minerals. In the case of groundwater, too, field parties are sent to various locations to examine the availability and level of the groundwater. Exploratory wells are drilled in some locations to know the quantity of water available.

The directorate also carries out drilling and construction of deep tubewells on payment following requests from either the government or private organisations. This is known as “deposit work”. A number of such deep tubewells were constructed for organisations like the Neepco, Assam Administrative Staff College, Sankardeva Nethralaya and the state zoo. Recently, two deep tubewells were installed in the Assam State Zoo and Botanical Gardens, where water was not enough for the animals as well as workers. It is estimated that the two deep tubewells there would yield a minimum of 25,000 litres of water per hour, which is more than enough for the zoo complex.