Bhubaneswar, July 14: On the second day of its field visit, the four-member team of the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) today made spot verifications in five mines of Joda and Koira mining circles.

Sources said that the team, led by P.V. Jayakrishna, inspected J.N. Patnaik, Aryan, Jiling Langlota, Jajang and Sirajuddin mines in the presence of state government officials and the leaseholders at some of the places. The team, which is acting on Supreme Court instructions, is looking into allegations of illegal mining in the state.

During the inspection, the team came across allegation of excess mining, mining outside the lease areas and violation of forest laws at certain places. There were also instances of discrepancies between the records of the state government and leaseholders.

Sources said the CEC would convene a meeting on July 22 in New Delhi and hear out the grievances of mine owners who, in certain cases, have accused the state government of faulty mapping and assessment. Before that state government officials would interact with the leaseholders on July 18 in Bhubaneswar. Yesterday, the team had visited six mines including the iron ore mines of Ram Bahadur Thakur to verify, among other things, charges of excess mining, mining outside lease areas and violation of forest and environment rules.