PANJIM: Four more iron ore mining leases were granted Consent
to Operate under the Air and Water Pollution Acts by Goa State Pollution
Control Board (GSPCB) on Thursday. With this, 61 mining leases have been
allowed fresh extraction of up to 15.2 million metric tonnes (MMT) by the
Board.
The leases that were cleared on Thursday belong to Gettabala
Parulekar in Pissurlem (0.9 MMT), V G Quenim in Sonshi (0.197 MMT), N S
Narvekar in Sanguem (0.39 MMT) and Dattaraj Velingkar at Dharbandora (0.07
MMT). They have been granted consent to operate under Water (Prevention and
Control of Pollution) Act 1974 and Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution)
Act 1981. The EC limit of these four mines has been fixed at 1.5 million metric
tonnes.
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“All the four leases have been granted consent to operate,”
GSPCB chairman Jose Manuel Noronha told media persons. The leases are among the
88 mines that were granted second renewal under section 8(3) of the Mines and
Minerals Development Regulation (MMDR) Act 1957 and granted Environment
Clearance (EC) by the Union Ministry for Environment and Forest (MoEF).
GSPCB has already granted Consent to Operate to 57 mining
leases, with an annual exaction cap of 13.79 million metric tonnes.
In yet another decision, the Board has decided not to allow
commercial units like glass cutting, painting and printing in residential
complexes. “Directions in this regards would be issued to municipal councils
and panchayats,” Noronha said.
The Board has also granted extension of time to apply for
Consent to Operate to small scale units like bakeries, nursing homes, painting
units, etc up to December 31, this year. The Board decided to waive off late
fee charges.
