As we head to what technically should be the peak of the mining season, the mining landscape in Goa lies in a messy quagmire. The battle of truck transportation rates have hit a deadlock with new divisions emerging within the ranks of the truckers of South Goa.
The dichotomy is accepting the decided rates and getting some business at the cost of better rates which may hopefully be decided upon as the season progresses. It is surprising though that the truckers or other stake holders have not once mooted the concept of dynamic pricing where the rates for transportation is calculated each week or month according to the international price of ore. If the prices rise, the truckers benefit from surge pricing for transportation. If they fall, they settle for lower prices. It is clear that mining companies will not moot this or even agree to this since they need to make up for the closure of their business for three years. But it is the state government which needs to come up with innovative out of the box ideas to steer this discourse, which is now being fought with both sides taking rigid positions which leave very little room for discussion.
At the same time a series of litigations, including some vital challenges, are nearing their decisive end. Many of these decisions will impact the business so decisively that it will boil down to whether mining can actually resume for another couple of years. A Special Leave Petition against the Goa government against a High Court order, asking the Goa government to grant renewals to 88 odd leases is in the Supreme Court. In addition there is a writ petition (WP 711) filed in 2015 against the actual grant of renewals to 88 leases which too is in the Supreme Court. While Goa Foundation is the petitioner in the SLP and the WP, activist Sudip Tamankar is also in court against the grant of 88 leases.
Meanwhile the SIT investigation in illegal mining and specifically the condonation of delays of mining renewals which has led to specific losses to the state exchequer has reached the door of Digambar Kamat. But what needs to be probed is if and why some of the leases, whose renewals were illegally condoned, still continue to function. And if these condonations were done by Chief Minister and Mines Mministers, then Pratapsingh Rane’s role in affecting the same condonations as Chief Minister should also be in the realm of scrutiny.
Clearly, mining can begin on a clean slate only when the slate is really clean. It is riddled with litigations, controversies and criminal investigations. Mining traders are found with multiple fixed deposit accounts of over a hundred crores. Their direct linkages with then ruling party politicians are close to getting established without a doubt. A new mining canvas has to be clearly bereft of all the taints of the past.
Investigations must come to their logical conclusion. The guilty, including those politicians who are running the guilty must be brought to book, thousands of crores of losses must be recovered and the proceeds from recovery must be pumped into mining areas for holistic people centric development. This is the only way forward and the only mining route the state should take.
