Jammu:For the past one-and-a-half years, the government seems to have left the sapphire mines in the Kishtwar district at the mercy of illegal traders, with no official mining activities taking place in the area. In the absence of legal mining, the government has failed to generate the revenue revenue amounting to crores of rupees.
Officials told the ETV Bharat that the 20-year lease to the Jammu and Kashmir Mining Department (JKMD) ended a couple of years ago and the new lease was granted to Mining Exploration and Consultancy Limited (MECL), a government of India public sector unit.
"Once the officials of MECL visited the area for a survey, but thereafter they didn't pay any visit. They had asked the Jammu and Kashmir government to construct a 44-km-long road up to the sapphire mines so that machinery could be taken there for better and exact extraction of sapphire. But so far no steps have been taken to construct the road," an officer of the Geology and Mining Department said.
The sapphire mines are situated 5,000 metres above sea level, 40 to 45 kilometres from Machail, a Hindu shrine in the Padder area of the Kishtwar district. At present, only the local tribals of the Padder area can walk up to the mines and JKML in the past had been taking their service to dig the precious minerals. The area is close to the glacier and only during the summers, one can trek to the area to search for the sapphire.
Another official, who has visited the area, mentioned that an exact estimate of the resources has not yet been made. Despite a survey conducted by the Geological Survey of India (GSI), the situation remains unclear. He further noted that until the road is constructed and advanced machinery is brought to the site, the mines will remain inaccessible.
Since the Mineral Exploration Corporation Limited (MECL) was assigned the task of extracting the precious sapphire, the Government of India planned to issue global tenders for the gemstone, to be managed by the Metal Scrap Trading Corporation (MSTC). However, no action has been taken so far.
Speaking to ETV Bharat, Puneet Sharma, Director of Geology and Mining Jammu & Kashmir, said, "Sapphire is a precious gemstone, and MECL is conducting a scientific exploration study on it. Until the study is completed, extraction has been suspended." He further added, "Heavy machinery needs to be transported to the site, and the Ministry of Mining has raised the matter with the Ministry of Defence to construct a road leading up to the area."
