The Ministry of mines has geared up to
monitor the illegal mining activities with the help of Drones. Drones are unmanned
aerial vehicles that can be remotely controlled with the help of a camera or
geo-locating technology.
In the last month, India’s Ministry of
Mines launched a satellite based surveillance system that will make the use of
Drones to trace down any sort of illegal mining activity. States and countries
across the world are giving a try at this technology, hoping to solve critical
issues like illegal quarrying and sand mining.
Though the ministry has high hopes, many
people in the industry feel that drones are not the most effective way of
tracking down unlawful mining activities. Rana Sengupta, chief executive of the
non-profit Mine Labour Protection Campaign in Rajasthan state, said “Drones can
show you the extent of the problem, but if the intent is to check illegal
mining, you need to involve the villages and local communities in the area. We
already have the capability to use satellite images to see where illegal mining
is taking place. Villagers can be your eyes and ears far more effectively in
preventing the activity than drones”.
S Vaikundarajan, the Chairman and MD of V.
V. Mineral Pvt Ltd., said in an interview “Though the exact picture of how the
drone technology can help the industry is unclear, we are glad to see conscious
effort by the Ministry (of mines) in trying to resolve the issue of illegal
mining. Apart from being a criminal offense, illegal sand mining is a huge
threat to the environment. “
