Mr Dinsha Patel minister of state for mines (independent charge) informed the Lok Sabha that central Government through the Indian Bureau of Mines has constituted Special Task Force for inspection of mines in endemic areas by taking the help of satellite imageries.

As on December 1st.2011, the Special Task Force has conducted inspections in a total of 434 mines in the States of Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat.

While IBM had suspended 152 mines after the inspection, suspension has been revoked after compliance of the rules in case of 96 mines. IBM has further, recommended termination of 8 leases to the State Governments.21 State Governments have constituted Task Force at State and District Level for monitoring illegal mining.