PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has suffered a loss of Rs1.678 billion due to illegal mining, with the amount remaining outstanding against various offenders as of July 2024, according to an audit report.
The audit of the accounts of the secretary KP Mineral Development Department for the financial year 2023-24 found that the department had failed to make serious efforts to recover the outstanding amount, resulting in a substantial loss to the government.
According to the report, the project titled “Assessment Study & Establishment of Mines Monitoring & Surveillance Units in Minerals Bearing Areas of KP” was designed to establish an effective monitoring and surveillance mechanism across the province, including the merged areas.
Under the approved PC-I, the project envisaged the establishment of 35 district offices to control illegal mining and ensure implementation of regulations governing mines and mining activities.
However, during the audit, it was observed that the project had assessed Rs1,678.009 million on account of illegal mining. The amount remained outstanding against various offenders as of the audit date in July 2024.
The audit report said the KP Mineral Development Department had not made serious efforts to recover the outstanding amount, leading to a substantial financial loss to the government.
The audit also pointed to a significant gap in the handling of cases related to illegal mining.
According to the report, the Monitoring and Surveillance Unit identified a total of 8,400 “murasalas” or official communications/cases concerning illegal mining. Of these, 5,275 were converted into FIRs, while 3,125 remained pending and had not been converted into FIRs by the audit date.
The report said the pending cases involved substantial revenue and their failure to be converted into FIRs resulted in the government not realising potential revenue, thereby causing further financial loss.
The audit attributed the lapse to violation of the approved PC-I of the project.
The department had also been asked to convene a meeting of the Departmental Accounts Committee (DAC) to discuss the audit observations. According to the report, a letter dated September 5, 2024, followed by a reminder on December 30, 2024, was issued for holding the DAC meeting.
However, the meeting was not convened until the finalisation of the audit report.
The audit recommended that the matter be investigated and responsibility fixed on the person or persons at fault. It also called for recovery of the outstanding amount and submission of a compliance report to the audit authorities.
The report further noted that the issue was not new and had also been highlighted in previous audit reports.
It said the same irregularity had been reported in the Audit Report for 2023-24 under DP No. 8.4.2, with a financial impact of Rs3,776.608 million, while it had also appeared in the Audit Report for 2022-23 under DP No. 6.4.7, with a financial impact of Rs847.241 million.
PAK SOUCH MEDIA GROUP
Daily Pak Souch Newspaper Sukkur – Daily Pak Special Newspaper Karachi – Daily Pak Today Newspaper Karachi – Daily Pak Jazbo Newspaper Sukkur
Head Office : Ayub Gate Shaikh Muhalla Near Rabbania Masjid Sukkur
Karachi Office : Office No. 1901-B, 19th Floor Saima Trade Tower (B) Block I.I Chandigarh Road Near Jung Press, Shaheen Complex & National Museum of Pakistan Karachi Sindh Pakistan.
Contact : 03009319022
Website 1 : https://paksouch.com/
Website 2 : https://sindhi.paksouch.com/
Website 3 : https://pakjazbo.com/
Website 4 : https://urdu.pakjazbo.com/
About The Author
