TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: The expert committee appointed by the Supreme Court to determine the annual cap on iron ore production in Goa has submitted its report to the Apex Court. Government sources confirmed the move and said the new capping limit for ore extraction would be decided once the report was examined.
The six-member committee, headed by ecologist Dr C R Babu, recommended a gross cap of 20 to 27.5 million tons annually for Goa in its preliminary report submitted to court last year. The figure included fresh extraction and dumps.
Based on the interim report, the State Mines Department fixed a lease-wise capping for all 89 renewed mining leases in Goa. The state export was between 45 to 50 million tons annually before mining came to a halt in September 2012.
The other committee members include: geologist Dr S C Dhiman, mineralogist Prof B K Mishra, forest officer S Parmeshwarappa, and the Goa secretary Parimal Rai. They also have until October 21 to submit a report on how the iron ore dumps lying in Goa should be dealt with.
According to government records, Goa has around 750 million tons of dumps lying. The government, in its Mineral Policy 2013, proposed the export of 25 million ton dumps annually claiming that dumps result into environmental degradation.
