Team Herald
PANJIM: With over five million tonnes of extracted iron ore lying at the leases, the Directorate of Mines and Geology (DMG) has raised serious concern about the safety of the said ore.
The Chief Secretary is ensuring that local police are deployed at the lease areas to keep a watch on the ore lying in the lease-bound areas. The vigil of the leaseholders will also continue simultaneously.
During the meeting, the Mines Director raised concern about the safety of the ore lying within the leasehold area, and in view of the extant as there are concerns expressed in the public interest litigation (PIL), that in keeping the ore in custody of the leaseholder themselves is a suspect transaction.
As per the Government submission, for last three years from 2015-16 t0 2017-18, total 37.84 million tonnes of ore was extracted, of which 10.95 million tonnes of ore was for the last financial year. Total 5.17 million tonnes of ore produced during the three years is still lying within leasehold areas.
