TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: Each and every one of the 75 Environment Impact Assessments (EIAs) studies submitted to the Ministry of Environment and Forests have made false declarations about the water resources which would be affected by the mines, eminent ecologist Prof Madhav Gadgil has said.
Speaking at the inauguration of the newly launched Goa Parivartan Manch, Gadgil said that it was important that all the decision-making is not left “in the hands of people concerned only with economic growth” even as he pointed out how only 5% – 10% of the figures claimed by the mining lobby to be affected by the mining ban were actually affected.
“I was appointed on a government committee to examine the EIAs granted by the MoEF and out of 75 essentially every one made false declarations about water resources which would be affected by mining,” Gadgil said.
“The very existence is denied in most reports,” Gadgil said adding that in some cases the denial was that of large streams.
He said that this was possible because the government’s own data was deficient. “They showed me the geological map of the State and asked me to point out whether there was a blue line (showing a stream) marked out,” Gadgil said when he sought to point out the inconsistencies with many of the agencies that carried out the EIA surveys.
“It must’ve been your illusion to have seen streams there,” Gadgil said paraphrasing what were the responses he received to his objections.
The newly formed Goa Parivartan Manch is headed by Paul Fernandes aka Pauli from Pilerne as the President and other members like Govind Gaude as the coordinator while
Adv Yatish Naik will serve as the advisor of the manch.
The manch has been formed with a view to take up local issues including political and environmental issues that have and will continue to come up.
