Parab even took the matter to court demanding the ban of illegal transportation of minerals through the village.
The bench of the High Court of Bombay at Goa then directed the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) to keep an eye on the transport of mining ore in Pissurlem and to penalise the violators. This would bring the dust pollution in the village under control. The court also ordered to install close-circuit television cameras (CCTV) cameras in Pissurlem to see that the mineral transporters would abide by the guidelines laid by the court. The court also directed the GSPCB to store the CCTV footage in DVR to keep a recording for better surveillance. The responsibility was entrusted to the panchayat secretary. The system that notifies the timing of the transportation has to be placed in the panchayat office within two weeks of the court order through which the panchayat secretary can keep tabs on the movement of the vehicles transporting minerals. The guidelines to prevent pollution include covering the freight, clearing soil spills and sprinkling water on the road for the dust to settle down were also laid down.
The guidelines also include penalising the transporter and reducing the trips if the level of air pollution was found to have worsened. All in all, the court has given all the required guidelines to prevent dust pollution.
Infact, it is government’s bounden duty to tackle dust pollution and the authorities were well aware of the issue much before 2012 when the mining business was in full swing and dust pollution and careless mining transportation were two of the hottest topics people were agitated about. These were two prime reasons that behind people’s opposition to the mining business.
Mining was shut down for almost a decade until recently, so there was no question of the pollution caused due to the dust. However, thanks to the constant efforts to resume mining, the permission was finally granted to move the ore from existing dumps and soon the proper extraction of minerals will begin as well.
The government had enough time in between to think of precautions as authorities knew that the disapproval for the mining business was mainly due to the dust pollution and reckless driving of trucks.
Given the incident in Pissurlem though, the government does not seem to have learnt its lesson, which prompted the court to pass the aforesaid order. Although the order is related to the mineral transport in Pissurlem, it should be implemented wherever there are mines.
Only then the pollution in the State caused by mining will truly be brought under control. The court has handed the responsibility to the panchayat secretary and the government should follow the suit to put in place such a system in all the panchayats. This would not only curb pollution, but the freight transportation will also stay under an authoritative scanner.
The court has directed the GSPCB to take the necessary action but the Board cannot look after each and every panchayat as they do not possess such a system. It was a good move by the court to entrust some of the work to the panchayat secretary and credit should be given to Hanumant Parab for taking the initiative and approaching the court.
It is now the government’s responsibility to take appropriate steps and put in place a system to control pollution before resuming mining activities so that there will not be difficulties later.
