Team Herald
PANJIM: The Goa Foundation on Thursday wrote to the Director of Mines and Geology, drawing his attention to the fact that permitting the mining of dumps would amount to illegal mining, if no prior leases have been granted for the purpose.
The letter was addressed in the context of the auctions of mining dumps scheduled on January 31 and the Goa Foundation has called for a cancellation of the auctions scheduled for Friday.
The mining of dumps for minerals that have a market today is squarely covered under the Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation (MMDR) Act, 1957. The MMDR Act states clearly in Section 4 that any mining operations must be pursuant to a mineral lease. This position has long since been made clear by the judgment of the Supreme Court in Bharat Coking Coal Ltd And Arvs State of Bihar And Ors on August 17, 1990.
Secondly, the mining of dumps has been permitted by the December 13, 2022 order of the Apex Court on an application (IA 6524) filed by the Goa government itself. The government is required to meet the conditions imposed in that order. There is no indication that these conditions have been met or are being met.
Thirdly, no action has been taken against the leaseholders who created the dumps illegally, as well as their co-conspirators, such as the land owners and government officials (where government/forest land is involved) as required under the Land Revenue Code, MMDR Act, the Environment Protection Act, etc.
The Goa Foundation has reminded the Director of Mines and Geology that he is merely a trustee of the mineral wealth of the State whose real owners are the people of Goa and especially future generations of the State. As the real owners of the mineral wealth of the State, the Foundation is bound to challenge the legality of any auctions which transgress existing law and norms and compromise the public interest.
The Foundation has therefore called for a cancellation of the auctions scheduled for January 31 and for re-conducting them after first granting a proper mining lease and after obtaining all necessary approvals, as required by the Expert Committee on Dumps and the various provisions of the MMDR Act.