THATTA: Mines’ leaseholders in Thatta district have been left high and dry by the Sindh Mines and Minerals Department, which has abruptly canceled their leases purportedly in violation of a number of court rulings.

The department’s move had affected over 350 leases across the province, prompting leaseholders to call for accountability and crackdown on rampant corruption within the department, sources told Dawn on Thursday.

Thatta’s leaseholders, who enjoyed wide support of local communities, alleged that the department’s actions were motivated by corruption. The corrupt officials who abused their authority to profit from unauthorised extraction of minerals were demanding higher bribes for mining after cancellation of leases and favouring unauthorised excavators, they alleged.

They accused the department’s officials, particularly Director General Zulfiqar Khushk, of allowing unauthorised individuals and teams to extract minerals from the mines whose official permits had been revoked.

Sources disclosed that such teams operated without officials’ interference, which raised suspicions that the permits had been cancelled purposely to sideline legitimate leaseholders and allow monopolization of the business of minerals’ extraction.

The leaseholders led by Akhtar Hussain Khichi, Mohammad Ayub Gabol and others said that the department’s decision violated a 2021 Sindh High Court ruling, which provided protection to specific mining permits.

They contended that, under the guise of enforcement of environmental regulations, the department cancelled leases in a pick and choose manner to pressure mine operators into paying higher bribes or risk financial ruin.

They called for transparency and fairness in recent cancellation of over 350 leases across key mining zones, including Thatta, Karachi, Jamshoro, Khairpur and Tharparkar.

They complained that despite passage of the Sindh Mines and Mineral Governance Act, which aimed to streamline regulations, local authorities were exploiting loopholes in the law for personal gains.

A recent Supreme Court ruling emphasised application of the Factories Act, 1934, to improve safety and oversight in stone-crushing industry. But, with the new act overriding prior petitions as “infructuous” the leaseholders expressed fear the law might lack sufficient transparency and protections for lessees.

Rabail Khoso, an assistant director in the Mines and Minerals Department, said the decision to cancel all mining leases was taken in the light of new rules regarding allotment of leases for mines framed by newly constituted mines committee.

Under the new rules, the leases would now be granted only through open auction and the past practice of awarding the same through the directorate of mines and minerals had been stopped forthwith, he said, adding that tenure of most of the leases that had been cancelled had already expired.

Asked if there was any ill-intention behind this step, most of the officers gave similar responses with a knowing smile. “You can easily figure out yourself as everybody is aware of the ‘system’.”

Meanwhile, the anti-corruption department has launched probe, in the wake of mounting public pressure, into leaseholders’ claims that they have been asked for bribe for extraction of minerals, particularly in Nai Baran, Jamshoro district.

Experts caution that unauthorised mineral extraction causes significant environmental degradation, endangering ecosystems and public health, with potential long-term consequences for the region.

Communities affected by cancellation of leases urged the Sindh government to address the chronic problem of corruption in the department, uphold locals’ rights and establish transparency in the province’s mining sector.

Published in Dawn, November 15th, 2024