TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: There is no illegal sand mining going on in the state, Chief Secretary B Vijayan has claimed in a report to the National Green Tribunal on Wednesday.
The report submitted to the green tribunal also says that the government had given the powers to various departments including mines, deputy collector, and police to keep an eye on and take action against any reported infraction. However, ironically, another document also submitted by the state chief secretary also gives details about various raids conducted and trucks and equipment seized.
The NGT had issued orders on sand mining to all states, including a recent order on mining of sand along the coastal belt.
The state has not issued any licenses for the past two years due to CRZ restrictions, but recently the government had set up a committee and identified some 12 to 13 places to begin legal manual sand mining after setting out some guidelines.
As of now the directorate of Mines and Geology has received 93 applications for the grant of permits for sand extraction manually, till Monday. The department had extended the last date for submission of applications till August 31.
Along with putting restriction on sand extraction per person per year, the committees identified 12 areas in north Goa along the River Tiracol, Chapora and Mandovi for extraction.
It was also decided to mark safety zones and eco-fragile zones, where sand extraction is banned.
Sand extraction will be allowed at Kiranpani, Devsu, Konnadi and Bagayat areas aloong River Tiracol. The zones of Colvale, Nadora, Ozrom-Pirna and Camurlim have been identified on River Chapora and Amona-Virdi, St Estevam, Betki-Khandola and Savoi-Verem on River Mandovi.
In November 2011, MOEF had approved the removal of sand or sand bars in coastal regulations zone (CRZ) areas of rivers and estuaries. Accordingly, in December 2012 government constituted two committees to regulate sand mining, as approved by MoEF.
