Bhubaneswar, Nov 14 - The crackdown on illegal mining in Orissa will continue "as long as necessary", a senior state government official has said here, adding that it is meant to preserve the environment and ensure that rules are followed.

"It is part of regular work. It will continue as long as necessary to put things in order," the state government's Steel and Mines Secretary Ashok Mohadeo Rao Dalwai told IANS.

"There is no starting or ending point to it. It is not a one-time affair. It is a continuous process," he said.

Orissa has approximately 600 mines, and over 2,400 people and firms mining or trading in mineral products. The state government started an investigation in July following allegations by opposition politicians that some were operating without licences.

Earlier this week the government ordered suspension of work in 69 mines and suspension of licences of at least 482 traders of different ores after they failed to produce documents to show their mining activities were legal.

"We cannot say how many licences will be cancelled. There have been violations and we have asked them to stop. We have given them scope to explain. If they quickly get back we will allow them to restart operations," Dalwai said.

"Any mining operation has to be carried out in accordance with certain statuary clearances."

Will the crackdown have an impact on Orissa's annual ore production target? "We don't expect production to fall, but there can be a temporary setback," the senior official said.

"We are not here to stop mining activities. We are here to facilitate mining but only in accordance with the law."

Dalwai said his first concern was to ensure "we are acting under the provision of the Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation rules. We are concerned about both development and regulation.

"We want more mining activities. We want mineral production so that they can meet the demand of the industrialisation taking place in the state and elsewhere.

Dalwai said while the government was "certainly concerned about development, simultaneously we need to regulate because mining has an impact on environment, impact on people. Regulation is to ensure that environment is sustained, rules are followed."

The state government had last month set up a task force headed by the chief secretary to check illegal mining.

Orissa's vigilance department, probing the alleged multi-crore mining scam in the state, had raided at least seven mines and arrested two mine operators last month for digging up ores illegally and six government officials of the forest and mine department for helping them.

The vigilance department officials also raided the offices of a leading mining company in mineral-rich Keonjhar district this week and said they found irregularities in the running of several mines being operated by the firm.

Orissa is one of the largest mineral-bearing states in India; 16.92 percent of the mineral reserves of the country are estimated to be in the state.

State government data shows Orissa has 97.37 percent of all the chromite in India, 95.1 percent of all nickel, 76.67 percent of all graphite, 49.74 of bauxite, 33.91 percent of iron ore, 28.56 percent of manganese and 27.59 percent of coal.

While the state has attracted investment proposals in the mining sector worth billions of rupees, loopholes in the rules have allowed illegal mining for years, officials say. (IANS)