CEC sources said the non-compliance by Goa is serious since it was on the basis of the Shah Commission’s stinging observations on rampant illegal iron ore mining in the State that the Supreme Court had banned all mining activities in the state since September 2012. The ban was lifted on April 21 last year.
Since the iron ore mining is proposed to be resumed in Goa in October after the monsoon, the ministry has asked the CEC to ensure all necessary checks are in place at the State level to prevent any further illegal mining, the sources said.
The CEC has also asked Goa and Odisha governments on steps taken about many mine owners sitting on the mining leases for decades under the clause of the ‘deemed extension’ instead of the periodical renewal as this aspect had also been brought out by the Shah Commission affecting huge losses to the state exchequer.
CEC has been pressing the State governments since last September to file their ATRs. In a meeting held here recently, the CEC decided to report inaction on the part of the state governments to curb illegal mining unless they file the ATRs with the ministry before the next meeting in September.
The CEC is concerned that these states are quite lax in submitting the ATRs to the Ministry of Mines even after two years of the final report submitted in October 2013 by the Shah Commission that was appointed by the UPA government in October 2010 to probe illegal mining in Goa, Karnataka, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.
