“Whatever we could do, whatever was in our hands, we have done,” Parsekar declared, fielding questions on resumption of mining.
The chief minister said that his government had supported truckers and barge operators and had now lifted the mining suspension order. However, he said that it was not possible for him to give a time frame for re-starting mining, as this depended on the other agencies too.
Parsekar also confirmed that leases had been renewed but he did not have the exact number with him at that moment. “But these are over 70,” he said.
Sources in the CM’s office and the Mines Department, however, said that there were a total of 87 renewals till date.
When asked if all the leases had been renewed according to the Apex court’s guidelines, the chief minister said, “They were done according to the MMDR Act.” He justified his stand by saying that as of now there was a cap, so these lease renewals and the illegalities that had taken place at that time would not happen and these lease renewals are not so much of a concern.
Meanwhile, Federation of Indian Mineral Industries had a meeting on Friday, where many issues relating to mining in Goa were discussed.
