Lucknow: The use of the integrated mining surveillance system (IMSS) to crack down on illegal mining and illegal transportation of minerals has helped the department of geology and mining collect a revenue of over Rs 756 crore.Mala Shrivastava, secretary and director of UP department of geology and mining, explained how the use of technology under IMSS has improved transparency in the field of mining. Govt has started the use of geo-fencing of mining areas, camera-equipped weighbridges, radio frequency identification (RFID) mine tags on vehicles transporting minerals and IoT and artificial intelligence-based unmanned automatic check gates on various highways, which have then been integrated with the command centre in Lucknow. The entire mining process is therefore now being monitored from a single location.“A decision support system has been established at the command centre, through which immediate e-notices are being issued against illegal activities identified by the districts. This has made the action process faster, more transparent and more effective than before,” the director said.Currently, 62 check gates are operational in the state, while two new check gates are under construction. The surveillance system has been beefed up using 75 RFID readers and the M-Check app. So far, RFID mine tags have been fitted on more than 1.53 lakh vehicles, helping in online tracking of mineral transportation.Shrivastava said that the IMSS has been implemented under the UP mining policy of 2017. Till July 16, 2026, more than 2.41 lakh e-notices have been issued through IMSS and an an amount of more than Rs 998 crore has been assessed. Of this, she said, more than Rs 756 crore has been recovered so far. “This technology-based surveillance system is playing an important role in effectively controlling illegal mining and mineral transportation, as well as in increasing govt revenue,” the officer said.
