Team Herald
PANJIM: Vedanta’s unchecked run with trucks carrying auctioned iron ore through Bicholim has
refreshingly hit a legal
challenge.
The National Green Tribunal has allowed an appeal against ore pore transportation by the Vedanta conglomerate, by fiery environmental activist, Swapnesh Sherlekar and four others, Prakash Parab, Surendra Gad, Govind Mandrekar and Mahadev Mandrekar.
The Sherlekar led people's challenge has prayed to quash the Environmental clearance given to Vedanta for e auctioned ore transportation granted on January 23, 2024.
While all grounds laid out for this are vital, the crucial livelihood question of 12 per cent of agricultural land in Mulgao village falling within the mining block; was not even disclosed when the EC was sought. Village settlements and village lands fall within the mining area.
Notices have been issued to Vedanta, the Goa Pollution Control Board and the Union ministry of Environment. The last two were bodies that assessed and authenticated the grant of EC at the Bicholim Mineral Block with a production capacity of 3 Metric Tons per annum.
The appeal against the EC clearance stated that the proposed mining was being categorized as a “green field project” in the EIA report erroneously even though mining activity of the lease area had been carried out for seven decades since 1941.
By mislabelling the project in question as “green field”, it has entitled the project proponent (Vedanta) and its EIA consultant to use baseline data from 2023, which had skewed the entire EIA report.
According to them, the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) had ignored the fact that the erstwhile lease was given an EC on November 17, 2005, which had recorded that the mine would exhaust in 10 years with an annual production of 2 MTPA.
The 2005 EC required a mine closure plan and several other requirements to be met during mining operations, but the EAC has not reviewed the 2005 EC before granting the EC.
Sherlekar and others further stated that the project proponent provided false information, by suppressing that the land for transportation to the jetty is outside the lease area and not owned by them.
The Directorate of Mines and Geology memorandum restricts transportation of iron ore on village roads to 20 to 40 trips per hour i.e. 160 trips per day to the maximum, whereas in the present case, as per the EC, a mind-blowing 1,205 per day trips are allowed to be made.
The public hearing conducted on August 11, 2023, had violated several established norms, they stated. Adv Agney Sail is arguing on behalf of the appellants.
During the hearing, GSPCB counsel Manish Salkar sought four weeks to file the reply. The matter has now been posted for hearing on January 15 next year.