Team Herald
MARGAO: Goa Forward Party (GFP) has demanded a white paper from the State government on the revelation that Goa’s iron ore reserves have been depleted.
Herald on Friday had reported that according to Government Accounting Standard Advisory Board (GASAB) study, Goa has only 260 million tonnes of iron ore available as on March 2021, which comprises hardly four per cent of India’s total ore reserves.
Reacting to the report GFP President and Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai said that he was shocked, and demanded an explanation from the Chief Minister Pramod Sawant for the strange and drastic depletion of Goa’s mineral wealth.
Sardesai demanded that a white paper be released comparing the reports provided by the Directorate of Mines, Government of Goa, and the Indian Bureau of Mines given to ex-CM late Manohar Parrikar in 2013, with the report prepared recently by the GASAB as well as data on the amount of ore sold off since 2013 till date.
He further said that in April 2013, in response to a question posed by him in the Goa Legislative Assembly, the then CM Parrikar informed that Goa had two billion tonnes of iron ore reserves.
“Later in October 2013, Parrikar had suggested that there should be a capping of iron ore sale at 45 tonnes annually of which 25 tonnes should be from the ore rejects piled up in the State. He envisioned that Goa’s ore reserves should be explored over 50-100 years, however, by the present government’s estimates and with the lack of any cap on mining, Goa may run out of ore within the next 10 years,” said the GFP President.
He said that during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown, the government had allowed transportation of ore and he had objected to the decision because under the garb of e-auctioning illegal excavation and sale of ore was being carried out.
