PANJIM: The Gawada Kunbi Velip and Dhangar (GAKUVED) Federation has hailed the decision of the Supreme Court’s dismissal of the special leave petition (SLP) filed by Vedanta Limited and others.
The GAKUVED Federation was also a party before the Supreme Court and had filed application for intervention and application for direction, said its General Secretary Rupesh Velip.
Velip thanked senior counsel Sanjay Parikh and Rashmi Nandkumar for successfully pleading before the apex court on behalf of the GAKUVED Federation.
“The Supreme Court by dismissing the present SLP of Vedanta has put the final nail in the coffin of the mining giants. Now the picture is crystal clear and the State government has to follow the decisions of the earlier two Supreme Court judgments.
The State government should decide on adopting a policy for mining in the State taking into confidence the mining dependent as well as the mining affected people/communities,” said Velip, adding that the present government has turned a blind eye towards the suffering of the people who are badly affected due to mining.
Before taking any decision on the mining policy, the GAKUVED Federation demanded that a thorough research be made on the damage that mining has done to the land, forest, fields, and water reservoirs and to the communities, residing in and around the mining areas.
Velip hoped that the government’s good sense will prevail or otherwise the Federation will be again forced to approach the courts for necessary reliefs further delaying the mining operations.
