GRANITE CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT RULES, 1999
.—(1) These rules may be called the Marble Development and Conservation Rules, 2002.
(2) They shall come into force from the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.
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1. Vide G.S.R. 369 (E), dated 15th May, 2002, published in the Gazette of India, Extra., Pt. II, Sec. 3 (i), dated 15th May, 2002.
These rules shall apply to prospecting and quarrying or mining of marble.
.—(1) In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires,—
(a) “Act” means the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (67 of 1957);
(b) “agent”, when used in relation to a quarry or mine, means any person whether appointed as such or not, who acts as the representative of the owner in respect of the management of the quarry or mine or any part thereof;
(c) “development” means removing overburden or unproductive or waste materials as preparatory to mining;
(d) “drilling” means the penetration of alluvial material, rocks or formations by holes for obtaining geological information and for drawing samples therefrom;
(e) “environment” and
No lease shall be granted by the State Government unless it is satisfied that there is evidence to show that the area for which the lease is applied for has been prospected earlier for marble or the existence of marble therein has been established otherwise.
The period for which a prospecting licence may be granted shall not exceed two years.
The maximum period for which a lease may be granted shall not exceed thirty years:
Provided that the minimum period for which any such lease may be granted shall not be less than twenty years.
.—(1) The minimum area that may be granted under a lease for ensuring mining activities to optimum depth shall not be less than four hectares with the restriction that the dimension on any one side of such area shall not be less than 200 metres.
(2) The maximum area that may be granted under a mining lease shall not exceed fifty hectares:
Provided that the State Government, if it is satisfied on the basis of proposed production level, geological, topographical or other conditions, may for the reasons to be recorded in writing, grant a lease over an area more than the maximum area or less than the minimum area specified under this rule.
.—(1) Every holder of a prospecting licence for marble shall submit to the State Government or any person authorised in this behalf by that Government within a period of sixty days from the date of execution of the prospecting licence, a scheme of prospecting indicating the manner in which he proposes to carry out the prospecting operation, in the area covered by the licence and the scheme shall incorporate the following, namely:—
(a) particulars of the area;
(b) the scale of the plan and the area of geological mapping;
(c) the number of pits, trenches, and bore holes which he proposes to put in the area and the locations thereof;
(d) the particulars of the machines to be used;
.—(1) A prospecting scheme prepared and submitted under rule 8 may be modified at any time on geological considerations by the holder of a prospecting licence during continuance of the prospecting licence.
(2) Any modification carried out under sub-rule (1) shall be intimated to the State Government or any person authorised in this behalf by that Government, by the holder of a prospecting licence within a period of fifteen days.
Every holder of a prospecting licence for marble shall carry out the prospecting operations in accordance with the scheme of prospecting submitted under rule 8 or with such modifications, if any, as intimated under rule 9 or as directed by the State Government or any person authorised by that Government in this behalf.
(2) Every holder of a prospecting licence may win and carry two hundred tonnes of marble during the period of prospecting licence, after paying due royalty, under the law for the time being in force, for the purposes of tests and determining its commercial viability.
(3) Every holder of a prospecting licence shall have priority to claim a mining lease over an area prospected by him, in case he applies for a mining lease atleast thirty days before the expiry of the prospecting licence.
Every holder of a prospecting licence for marble shall submit to the State Government or any person authorised in this behalf by that Government an annual report in Form A so as to reach it or him, as the case may be, by 30th April for the previous year:
Provided that a report in Form A shall be submitted within a period of three months after the completion or abandonment of the prospecting operations or the expiry of the prospecting licence, whichever is earlier.
.—(1) No lease shall be granted by the State Government unless there is a mining plan duly approved by the State Government or any person authorised in this behalf by that Government for the development of marble deposit in the area concerned.
(2)(a) For the renewal of any lease over an area exceeding one hectare the State Government shall require the lessee to submit a mining plan duly approved by the State Government or any person authorised in this behalf by that Government for the development of marble deposit in the area concerned.
(b) For the purpose of renewal of a mining lease up to an area of one hectare, the State Government shall specify a simplified scheme of mining to be submitted by the lessee for approval by the State Government or any other person authorised in this behalf.
.—(1) No mining plan shall be approved unless it is prepared by a qualified person recognised in this behalf by the State Government or any person authorised by that Government or by a recognised person under rule 22B of the Mineral Concession Rules, 1960.
(2) No person shall be granted recognition for the purposes of sub-rule (1) by the State Government or any person authorised by that Government unless he holds—
(i) a degree in mining engineering or a post-graduate degree in geology granted by a university established or incorporated by or under an Act of Parliament or any institution recognised by the University Grants Commission established under section 4 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956 (3 of 1956) or any qualification equivalent thereto; and
(ii) profes
.—(1) Any person possessing the qualifications and experience required under sub-rule (2) of rule 13 may apply for recognition to the competent authority designated by the State Government for this purpose.
(2) The competent authority after making such enquiry as it deems fit, may grant or refuse to grant recognition and where recognition is refused, the competent authority shall record reasons in writing and communicate the same to the applicant.
(3) A recognition shall be granted for an initial period of ten years and may be renewed for further periods not exceeding ten years at a time:
Provided that the competent authority may refuse to renew recognition for reasons to be recorded in writing after giving an opportunity of hearing to the person concerned.
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On receipt of the application for grant of mining lease for undertaking mining operations for marble, the State Government shall take decision to grant precise area for the said purpose and communicate such decision to the applicant and on receipt of the communication from the State Government of the precise area to be granted, the applicant shall submit a mining plan within a period of three months from the date on which such communication is received or such other period as may be allowed by the State Government for approval and the said mining plan shall incorporate—
(i) the plan of the precise area showing the nature and extent of the marble deposit, spot or spots where the excavation is to be done in the first year and its extent, a detailed cross-section and detailed plan of spots of excavation based on the prospecting data gathered by the applicant and a tentative
.—(1) No person shall commence mining operations for marble in any area except in accordance with a mining plan approved under these rules.
(2) The State Government or any person authorised in this behalf by that Government may require the holder of a lease to make such modifications in the mining plan referred to in sub-rule (1) or impose such conditions as it considers necessary by an order in writing if such modifications or imposition of conditions are considered necessary in the light of the experience of operation of mining plan or in view of the change in the technological development.
(3) A holder of a lease, desirous of seeking modifications in the approved mining plan as are considered expedient, in the interest of safe and scientific mining, conservation of marble, or for the protection of environment, shall apply to the State
.—(1) (a) Where mining operations for marble covering leasehold areas exceeding one hectare have been undertaken before the commencement of these rules without an approved mining plan, the holder of such lease shall submit a mining plan within a period of one year from the date of commencement of these rules, to the State Government or any person authorised in this behalf by that Government for its approval.
(b) In case of existing mining leases upto one hectare, the State Government shall specify a simplified scheme of mining and every lessee shall submit such scheme of mining within a period of one year from the date of commencement of these rules to the State Government or any person authorised in this behalf by that Government for its approval.
(2) If a holder of a lease has not been able to submit the mining plan or scheme of mining
.—(1) Every mining plan duly approved under these rules shall be valid for the entire duration of the lease.
(2) The owner, agent, mining engineer or manager of every mine or quarry shall review the mining plan as referred to in sub-rule (1) and submit a scheme of mining for the next five years of the lease to the State Government or any person authorised in this behalf by that Government for approval.
(3) The scheme of mining shall be submitted to the State Government or any person authorised in this behalf by that Government at least one hundred twenty days before the expiry of the five years’ period, for which it was approved on the last occasion.
(4) The State Government or any person authorised in this behalf by that Government shall convey its or his approval or refusal to the scheme of
.—(1) Every holder of a lease shall carry out mining operations for marble in accordance with the approved mining plan with such conditions as may have been imposed under sub-rule (2) of rule 16 or with such modifications, if any, as approved under sub-rule (4) of rule 16 or in accordance with the mining plan or the scheme submitted or approved under rule 12 or 17 or 18 as the case may be.
(2) If the mining operations are not carried out in accordance with the mining plan as referred to under sub-rule (1), the State Government or any person authorised in this behalf by that Government may order suspension of all or any of the mining operations and permit continuance of only such operations as may be necessary to restore the conditions in the quarry or mine as envisaged under the said mining plan.
The prospecting and mining operations shall be carried out in such a manner so as to ensure systematic development and conservation of marble deposits and protection of environment.
.—(1) System of working in marble quarries shall be performed by formation of benches.
(2) Such benches in marble and overburden including weathered marble shall be formed separately and the benches in overburden or weathered marble shall be kept sufficiently in advance so that their working does not interfere with the working of marble.
(3) In order to ensure optimum production with minimum waste generation, every lease holder shall endeavour to deploy machinery and equipment as indicated below:
(a) For small quarry or mine (having area upto one hectare):
(i) Compressor … one
(ii) Jack hammer or an
.—(1) The non-saleable marble rejects at quarry or mine bottom shall regularly be collected and transported to the surface and the quarry or mine floor kept reasonably clear of debris.
(2) Small marble blocks from such non-saleable marble suitable for possible use in manufacture of bricks as well as flooring or wall tiles by small scale industries sector shall not be used as ballast, road metal or stone aggregate and such material shall be segregated from the dumps of marble rejects and stored separately for future use as far as possible, whenever such dumps are worked for recovery of stone aggregate or used as quarry or mine backfill.
(3) The ground selected for dumping of top soil, overburden, waste material or non-saleable marble shall be away from working quarry or mine.
(4) Before startin
The owner, agent, mining engineer or manager of every marble quarry and mine shall submit to the State Government or any person authorised in this behalf by that Government, a copy of the plans and sections maintained under these rules, as and when required by that Government or such person, as the case may be.
.—(1) All plans, sections and tracings or copies thereof kept at the marble quarry or mine shall be serially numbered or suitably indexed.
(2) Every plan, section or part thereof prepared under these rules shall carry thereon a certificate for its correctness and shall be signed by the mining engineer with date.
(3) Every copy of a plan and section or part thereof submitted or maintained under these rules shall bear a reference to the original plan or section from which it was copied and shall be certified thereon by the owner, agent, mining engineer or manager to be a true copy of the original plan or section.
Every holder of a prospecting licence or a lease shall take all possible precautions for the protection of environment and control of pollution while conducting prospecting, mining or processing of marble in the area for which such licence or lease is granted.
.—(1) Where top soil exists and is to be excavated for prospecting or mining operations for marble, it shall be removed separately.
(2) The top soil so removed shall be utilised for restoration and rehabilitation of the land which is no longer required for prospecting or mining operations or for stabilising or landscaping the external dumps.
(3) Where top soil cannot be used concurrently, it shall be stored separately for future use.
.—(1) The overburden, waste rock and non-saleable marble generated during prospecting or mining operations for marble shall be stored separately in properly formed dumps on grounds earmarked.
(2) Such dumps shall be properly secured to prevent the escape of material in harmful quantities which may cause degradation of the surrounding land or silting of water courses.
(3) Wherever possible, such waste rock or overburden or other rejects, shall be backfilled into the worked out marble quarry or mine, where marble has been recovered upto the optimum depth, with a view to restore the land to its original use or desired alternate use, as far as possible, and where the backfilling is not feasible, the waste dumps shall be suitably terraced and stabilised by planting vegetation or otherwise.
Every lease holder shall undertake in a phased manner restoration, reclamation and rehabilitation of lands affected by prospecting or mining operations and shall complete this work before the conclusion of such operations and the abandonment of the marble quarry or mine.
Air pollution due to dust, exhaust emissions or fumes during prospecting, mining or processing operations for marble and related activities shall be controlled and kept within permissible limits specified under any environmental laws for the time being in force.
Every holder of a prospecting licence or a lease shall take all possible precautions to prevent or reduce to a minimum the discharge of toxic and objectionable liquid effluents from marble quarry or mine, workshop or processing plant, into surface or ground water bodies, and usable lands. These effluents shall conform to the standards laid down in this regard.
Noise arising out of prospecting, mining and processing operations for marble shall be abated or controlled by the holder of prospecting licence or a lease at the source so as to keep it within the permissible limit.
The standards and permissible limits of all pollutants, toxins and noise referred to in rules 29, 30 and 31 shall be those notified by the concerned authorities under the provisions of the relevant statutes from time to time.
Every lease holder shall take immediate measures for planting in the area held under the lease or any other area selected by the State Government for this purpose, such number of trees sufficient to improve the environment and to minimise.
.—(1) For the purpose of carrying out mining operations in accordance with these rules, every holder of a marble quarry and mine lease shall employ,—
(a) in the case of a mechanised marble quarry or mine, a whole time mining engineer possessing the following qualifications, namely:—
(i) degree in mining engineering with minimum one year‘s experience of working in mines including marble quarries or mines, or
(ii) post graduate degree in geology with first class metalliferous mines manager’s certificate or post graduate degree in geology with minimum three years’ experience of working in supervisory capacity in mines including marble quarries or mines, or
(iii) diploma in mining with first class m
.—(1) It shall be the duty of the mining engineer to take all necessary steps to plan and conduct mining operations, so as to ensure conservation of marble, systematic development of the marble deposits and protection of environment in and around the marble quarry or mine lease area in accordance with these rules.
(2) He shall be responsible for the preparation and maintenance of plans, sections, reports and schemes in accordance with these rules.
(3) He shall carry out all such orders and directions as may be given in writing under these rules by the State Government or any person authorised in this behalf by that Government and shall forward a copy of each of such orders or directions to the holder of prospecting licence or, as the case may be, the marble quarry or mine lease.
.—(1) The mining engineer shall ensure that there is sufficient provision of proper materials, appliances and facilities at all times at marble quarry or mine for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of these rules and orders issued thereunder and where he is not the owner or agent of the marble quarry or mine, he shall make requisition in writing to the owner or agent for anything required for the aforesaid purpose. A copy of every such requisition shall be recorded in bound paged book kept for the purpose.
(2) On receipt of a requisition under sub-rule (1), the owner or agent shall provide as soon as possible the materials and facilities requisitioned by the mining engineer.
—(1) The owner, agent, mining engineer or manager of every marble quarry or mine shall submit to the State Government or any person authorised in this behalf by that Government returns in respect of such marble quarry or mine within the time specified in respect of such returns, namely:—
(a) a half yearly return in Form B for every half year ending 30th September and 31st March before the 15th of the following month for the preceding half yearly period;
(b) an annual return in Form C which shall be submitted before the 1st July of each year for the preceding year:
Provided that in case of abandonment or surrender of a marble quarry or mine, such annual return shall be submitted within ninety days of the date of abandonment or surrender.
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When the ownership of a prospecting licence or a marble quarry or mine lease is transferred, the previous owner or his agent shall make over to the new owner or his agent with a period of seven days of the transfer of the ownership, borehole cores preserved if any, all plans, sections, reports, registers and other records maintained in pursuance of the Act, rules or orders made thereunder, and all correspondence relevant thereto relating to the prospecting licence or marble quarry or mine lease, and when the requirements of these rules have been duly complied with, both previous and the new owners or their respective agents shall forthwith send to the State Government or any person authorised in this behalf by that Government a detailed list of borehole cores, plans, sections, reports, registers and other records that have been transferred.
The owner, agent, mining engineer or manager of every marble quarry or mine or a holder of a prospecting licence shall maintain the labour attendance register, production and despatch register, explosives consumption register, test reports and details or mining machinery and copies of all notices and returns, plans, sections and schemes submitted to the State Government or any person authorised in this behalf by that Government under these rules, at an office established by the licensee or lessee and these shall be made available at all reasonable times to the State Government or any person authorised in this behalf by that Government for inspection.
.—(1) Any person aggrieved by any order made or direction issued by any person authorised by the State Government to make or issue such order or direction under these rules may within ninety days of the communication of such order apply to the State Government for revision of the said order:
Provided that any such application may be entertained after the said period of ninety days if the applicant satisfies the State Government that he had sufficient cause for not making the application within time.
(2) Every order, against which a revision application is preferred under sub-rule (1), shall be complied with pending the decision of the State Government in such revision:
Provided that the State Government may on an application by the applicant, suspend the operation of the order appealed against
Whoever contravenes any of the provisions of these rules shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine which may extend to five thousand rupees or with both and in the case of continuing contravention with an additional fine which may extend to five hundred rupees for every day during which such contravention continues after conviction for the first such contravention.
Every holder of a prospecting licence or a lease shall afford all reasonable facilities to persons authorised by the Central Government or the State Government for the purpose of undertaking research or training in matters relating to mining or geology.
The territorial jurisdiction of a person authorised by the Central Government or the State Government for the purpose of these rules shall be as notified by the Central Government or the State Government, as the case may be, in the Official Gazette from time to time.
The owner, agent, mining engineer, geologist or manager of every marble quarry or mine shall furnish such information regarding such quarry or mine or any matter connected therewith as the Central Government or the State Government or any person authorised in this behalf by the Central Government or the State Government, as the case may be, may require by an order in writing and the information shall be furnished within such time as may be specified in the aforesaid order.
The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, direct that any power exercisable by it under these rules may, in relation to such matters and subject to such conditions, if any, as may be specified in the notification be exercisable also by such officer or authority subordinate to the State Government.
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