The panel visited the Talcher coal mine (picture above) during its last trip

Bhubaneswar, Oct. 30: State government officials today worked overtime to get their paper work ready ahead of the Justice M.B. Shah Commission’s third visit to Odisha beginning tomorrow.

The steel and mines department buzzed with activity and so did the industries department with senior officials collecting and collating information that the panel was likely to seek during its last trip to the state to investigate the multi-crore mining scam that surfaced in 2009.

Karnataka chief conservator of forests U.V. Singh is heading the six-member panel. Sources said chief secretary B.K. Patnaik convened a meeting of senior officials of the concerned departments including industries and steel and mines to discuss preparations for the panel’s visit. It will have a look at the Koida mines in Sundergarh district, apart from scrutinising the mining leases issued in the state.

“It was a preparatory meeting to discuss the kind of information that the commission might need and the logistics required for its field visits,” said mines director Deepak Mohanty.

Sources said the panel, which had examined around 93 lease files during its last visit to the state in October, was likely to bring another 100 cases under its scanner. The commission has also sought information from the state government on issues such as lease renewal and iron ore exports.

The panel’s visit coincides with the reported scrutiny of the state government’s coal block allotment related files by an audit team from the accountant general’s office, a move preparatory to the Odisha visit of the central Public Accounts Committee, which is investigating the issue. The committee is expected to arrive here on November 2. Some of the coal block allotments in the state have become controversial.

The commission, which is also looking into cases of mining violations in other parts of the country, including Goa, Karnataka, Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh, first visited the state in December last year, when it inspected five mines detecting many irregularities. During its second trip last month, the panel made no field visits but expressed displeasure over reports of mining activity within 10km radius of the Similipal wildlife sanctuary.

Ever since the mining scam broke in the state in 2009, nearly 300 mines in various parts of the state have ceased operation while over 200 applications for renewal of mining leases are pending with the government. It has formed a 12-member committee to expedite the process of lease renewals.

The state government has also taken some other steps to ensure the best possible use of its mineral resources. Last month, the steel and mines department declared a policy resolution, which stated that the government, while renewing mining leases for captive use, would limit the area of the lessees to meet their requirement for 30 years. The balance area would be reserved for the state-run Odisha Mining Corporation.

The Opposition, however, has described such moves as eyewash and continues to demand a CBI inquiry into the scam, which has led to arrest of 680 people since July 2009 when the state government asked the vigilance department to probe into the issue. On the other hand, Orissa High Court is yet to deliver its judgment on a bunch of petitions demanding a CBI inquiry into the issue.