TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: In a major move that would send out a message to the mining industry in Goa, the State government is reportedly mulling lifting the suspension order on all mining leases it had issued on September 9 last year in the aftermath of the tabling in Parliament of the Shah Commission Report that indicated that all mining leases in the State are “illegal”.
The Supreme Court-ordered ban on all mining activity in Goa is currently in force, however, and any move by the State government to lift the suspension order it issued would not change the ground situation till the apex court, which in October 2012 had halted all mining activity in Goa pending a report from Central Empowered Committee (CEC), itself lifts its ban. The next hearing on the issue is on August 29. Incidentally, Environment Clearances for the mining leases also currently stand suspended.
An official at the Secretariat said that the proposal to lifting the suspension order was discussed and reportedly okayed at a meeting of top officials with the Chief Minister last week including the Chief Secretary, Secretary Mines and Director Mines along with some others.
The buzz is that the State government is apparently planning on issuing a circular to this effect sometime this week and proposes to mention the lifting of its suspension order in its affidavit before the apex court pleading that legal mining activity be allowed to resume. Another official said that the Directorate of Mines & Geology will also reiterate its stand before the apex court that it will strictly regulate the mining industry and weed out all illegalities.
While Chief Minister was not available for his comment despite repeated efforts, Secretary Mines Pawan Kumar neither denied nor confirmed the government move. “You please speak to the Director Mines for confirmation,” Kumar told Herald. When contacted, Director Mines Prasanna Acharya, who is currently out of station, replied through a text message: “I have no idea.”
The government, it may be recalled, while suspending mining activities had said that a
Chief Secretary-headed committee would scrutinize all the documents of mining firms and accordingly the “legal ones and those mines which are involved in minor irregularities” would be allowed to re-start operation. The scrutiny of the documents was in process based on which stamp duty was collected from over 20 mining lease holders. An official said that the government would also provide details “of the initiatives taken by the State government” since the tabling of the Shah Commission “to ensure that every kilogram of ore extracted in the State is accounted for and is legal”. It is learnt, meanwhile, that the Goa Mining People’s Front, which has withdrawn its agitation, was also told about this move being mulled by the State government.
