PONDA: The Goa Mining People’s Front (GMPF) leader Puti Gaonkar on Friday said the BJP government lacked the will power to restart mining in the State.
Reacting to the government order to mining firms to vacate 88 leases, Gaonkar hailed the government’s decision to initiate restart of mining procedure, but questioned who stopped the government for the past four years to restart process in the State.
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He alleged that the government misled people of Goa and the mining dependents for the past four years with ulterior motives.
Gaonkar said, “The Supreme Court in its order in 2018 had nowhere asked the government not to restart the mining procedure. Even the GMPF was demanding to restart mining by auctioning of leases or forming mining corporation.”
He said that he welcomed the government’s move to clear the way for fresh auctioning of mining leases but alleged with ulterior motives the government wasted four years since 2018 to restart the procedure.
Gaonkar once again reiterated that the government should put conditions to the bidders that the retrenched workers, truck and machinery owners of the existing mining leases should get job at the time of fresh auction of leases failing which the mining dependents will come on the road to protest.
Earlier, he had made the same demand on April 22, when Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant had declared intention of auctioning mining leases in the State including the second renewal of 88 leases that were quashed aside by the Supreme Court in 2018.
Further, he said, “If the government is really serious then it should restart mining in a short period.”
He even challenged Goa Foundation leader Claude Alvares to buy the mining leases, operate them, run in profit and prove beneficial to the public according to his claims.
When asked, if the surface right of mining leases vested with the leaseholders, is it possible to auction the leases, Gaonkar said he can’t deny that the auction process may stuck in litigations if the mine owners file petitions in the court delaying the restart of mining.
He said, “There is an option that the government can acquire the land of mining leases. But then the government will have to pay five times more for purchasing.”
