Andhra Pradesh Mines and Geology Principal Secretary Mukesh Kumar Meena has directed officials to adhere strictly to prescribed timelines for processing land no-objection certificates for mining applications and take steps to eliminate pending cases.

Meena conducted a videoconference review meeting with officials from the Mines Directorate, Joint Collectors, District Forest Offices and District Mines and Geology Offices. The meeting reviewed the time-bound NOC mechanism under OMEPS 2.0, with instructions that every application be processed within the specified period and delays escalated through the online system.

Under the revised procedure, a Tahsildar has 14 days from the date of intimation to issue or reject an NOC on the portal. If no action is taken within that period, the application is escalated to the Joint Collector, who has seven days to process it. Continued delays move the application to the District Collector for another seven days, while the Director of Mines and Geology receives an alert at each stage.

Meena asked Joint Collectors and field-level Revenue officials to monitor pending applications closely and comply with the timelines. District Collectors have been instructed to ensure that Tahsildars follow the process, and responsibility will be fixed on officers found guilty of wilful delays or negligence.

He also directed Mines and Geology officials to scrutinise applications properly before forwarding NOC requests to Revenue authorities. Area plans must be submitted through the portal with existing leases clearly demarcated, while proposals involving land within 500 metres of a Reserved Forest must be sent to the concerned District Forest Officer.

The department has been asked to use OMEPS 2.0’s digital monitoring and escalation features effectively. The portal records remarks, document uploads and application forwarding at every stage, while automatically compiling pending cases to support monitoring and timely disposal.