PANJIM: The Goa government is contemplating the possibility of having a State-level mechanism parallel to the Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) for preparation, certification and monitoring of mining plans for the renewed iron ore mining leases.
The move is as per the Mines and Minerals Development Regulation (MMDR) Amendment Ordinance, 2015, which states that in order to facilitate the officers of IBM, the State Directorate of Mines and Geology (DMG) is entrusted with new responsibilities of approval of mining plan/scheme of mining/final mine closure plan and recognition of qualified persons for preparing mining plans.
The decision to have a separate mechanism parallel to IBM is also to expedite the approval of the mining plan, which normally takes three months by IBM.
During the recently held Co-ordination meeting of the Union Mines Ministry’s Cum Empowered Committee (CCEC) chaired by Secretary (Mines), Dr Anup K Pujari, the State government said that the matter has been put up for consideration before the government.
“The matter is put up for consideration of government whether we should have a separate mechanism parallel to IBM,” the government has said.
The mining plan consists of details such as extent of the mineral body, geology, lithology, mineral reserves, extent of mechanization, plan of area indicating water course, water pollution, etc. The mining plan is an extremely vital document for scientific development of mineral deposits particularly for the lease holder to carry out mining operations strictly according to the approved mining plan.
The IBM itself is in the process of preparing a roadmap for instituting a system with regard to self-certification by DMG to mining plans.
As the State government is yet to take any decision, IBM is currently undertaking inspection of renewed leases in the State for the approval of the mining plan.
GSPCB collects water samples from 12 mines
Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) on Thursday collected water samples of local water bodies surrounding iron ore mining leases in case of 12 mines, for monitoring the water pollution level.
Twelve leases were inspected by the Board for grant of Consent to Operate under the Water and Air acts. The six-member expert committee inspected mines in North Goa Thursday morning – V M Salgaocar (4), Sesa Goa (3) and one each belonging to Fomento, Kunda Gharse, Cosme Costa, Badruddin Mavani.
“The inspection was carried out keeping in view the water and air pollution acts norms. The water samples from the nearby water bodies were collected to authenticate the pollution level before commencement of mining operations,” a senior official said, adding that the data will help to compare the water pollution once mining resumes.
Even as the air pollution level was not monitored, it is likely that the Board will direct the lease owner to install ambient air monitoring stations at their lease sites, to measure the pollution level.
