At a time when the stae is reeling under the biggest ever illegal mining scam, Obulapuram Mining Company belonging to Gali Janardhan Reddy, illegal mining of iron ore is still continuing unabatedly in Kurnool district.

Two prominent leaders from Telugu Desam and Congress party in the district are vying with eachother in smuggling the ore out of state. The ore is being mined in Guntupalle, Ussenapuram, Papasani Kottala, Musalaya Cheruvu, Tavisikonda and the surrounding areas without any mining leases. Both the leaders are making crores of rupees by smuggling 250 to 300 trucks of iron ore everyday. Had these leaders had requisite mining leases, they ought to have paid Rs. 3600/- per truck towards Royalty and Way Bills. Though there are several check post in the area to keep a tab on illegal mining/tranporting of minerals, the concerned officials are not able to do anything in this regard due to political pressures.