TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: Forest department has begun the Global Positioning System (GPS) based survey of iron ore dumps lying in the forest areas, including wildlife sanctuaries and national park, a fortnight ago.
The survey is expected to be completed by January end, after which the report will be submitted to the state government.
Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (APCCF) Richard D’ Souza said the survey has been carried out using GPS and Google imaging.
“The survey will give a clear picture as to where the dumps are lying and the number of dumps,” he said.
According to the information, almost 144 mining reject dumps are lying on forest lands, majority of them belonging to big mining firms that include G N Agarwal, V M Salgaoncar, Salgaoncar Mines Industry, Dempo Mines, Chowgule & Company Ltd, Timblo Pvt Ltd and V N Bandekar.
The Mining Policy favouring removal of dumps from forest areas states that dumps within forest areas including sanctuaries are causing problem for wild life. It has said that the state government will seek special approval (if required) from Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) for its removal. “Dumps in forest area would be auctioned at a price in addition to royalty payment and other fees as prescribed by government’s policy,” the mining policy states.
