TEAM HERALD
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PANJIM: Claiming that the “protectors of the people turned out to be predators”, Goa Governor B V Wanchoo on Monday informed the House that the process has been initiated to file criminal complaints against those who have defrauded the State through illegal mining.
Wanchoo said that the complaint will be filed based on the illegalities exposed by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and the Justice MB Shah Commission. A committee headed by Justice Khandeparkar has been appointed to look into each of the cases independently and recommend necessary action, Governor informed.
“The protectors of the people turned out to be predators. The ‘mantra’ was ‘exploit by any means as much and as long as you can,” Governor said adding “innocent people are made to pay due to misdeeds of few”.
“It is a well-known fact that before the present government took over, there was hardly any regulation of the mining activities in the State. The precious resources belonging to the people of Goa were allowed to be plundered at will by the greedy and the mighty. No doubt, such exploitation were perpetuated with the passive and active connivance of those who were entrusted to keep vigil on it,” Wanchoo said.
The Governor said that in order to safeguard the resources, the government suspended mining activities after the Justice Shah Commission report on illegal mining was tabled in Parliament. “This was done with an intention to restart legally permissible mining activities within a period of two-three months after addressing the issue of illegalities and the environmental damage,” he added.
However, he said, before government could do it, the interim directives of Supreme Court to stop mining activities was received and the entire process came to a grinding halt. “As a result government was helpless in re-starting even legal mining,” he added.
