Parrikar U-turn on illegal mining? September 13, 2012
TEAM HERALD [email protected] PANJIM: Soft-pedaling his earlier stand, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday claimed that almost 50-60 per cent of the mines in Goa are working "within reasonable compliance" of environment norms. “The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report on illegal mining and the Shah Commission report is based on a figures and facts which are one or two years old. During this period, many companies might have got the relevant documents and could now be meeting legal requirements,” Parrikar said, responding to a question by HERALD on how many mining leases are likely to be suspended. “According to my knowledge, 50 to 60 per cent of mines in the State are running with reasonable compliance of environment norms,” he said. Parrikar, while heading the PAC during his tenure as Leader of Opposition had alleged that a majority of mines in Goa are illegal. Parrikar has, incidentally, pegged the illegal mining ore scam at Rs 4,000 crore as opposed to the Rs 35,000 crore mentioned by the Shah Commission as the bounty from the loot of Goa's resources. "Clarifying" the Government stand allowing transportation and export of already extracted ore, Parrikar said that a deadline (September 21) has been given to mining firms to report the exact quantum of ore with grade and other details of ore and the exact location of its existence to the Mines Department, failing which the company would not be allowed to transport the ore. “We have given them a seven-day deadline. Once they submit the documents, the Directorate of Mines would constitute teams to inspect the quantity of ore lying at the site and accordingly, permits would be granted for its transport and export,” Parrikar said. The State Government, in its notification suspending mining operations of all the mines in the state on September 10, had allowed trade and transportation of ore already mined, and had not made such trade and/or transportation incumbent upon obtaining prior clearances. Whether that position had changed was not clear from the Chief Minister's clarification today. Parrikar refused to say whether the Government has any mechanism in place to check if the ore lying at any site, port or jetty was legal or illegal and whether there were any punitive measures in store for those mining firms which went ahead and transported/exported already mined ore within the seven-day "deadline" . http://www.heraldgoa.in/News/Main%20Page%20News/Parrikar-U-turn-on-illegal-mining/64380.html
