Odisha’s Malkangiri Collector rejects 48 approved mining tenders

Vishal Singh, the Malkangiri Collector, rejected 48 mining tenders comprising the seven stone quarries granted to Andhra Pradesh-based trader Ch Venu Gopal. The Malkangiri Collector revealed that the decision to reject the tenders was based on the recommendation of the Revenue department. New tenders would be invited for the auction of every mine. Singh also dropped the Rs 1 crore solvency certificate issued in support of Venu Gopal by the Malkangiri Sub-Collector for not checking the genuineness of the report listed by the regional revenue inspector. According to the media reports, the action comes in the wake of the examination report of Revenue Divisional Commissioner (South), who was reviewing the alleged violations in mining tenders invited by Vijay. The previous MP, Pradeep Majhi, alleged that the RDC is yet to provide a report on people involved in the mining violations. The Congress leader blamed Vijay for giving stone quarries favouring Venu Gopal by manipulating bid records by tender fixing. Majhi said action should be taken against everyone who is involved in the mining violations. The former MP said that the tender boxes were taken to the residence of Vijay to manage the bidding papers to support the Andhra Pradesh-based trader. The previous collector denied the accusations and explained that he took the tender boxes to his residence office for improved security with CCTV surveillance. Image Source