Team Herald
PANJIM: The High Court of Bombay at Goa has issued notices to the State and districts administration seeking reply into a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) alleging non-functioning of the District Mineral Foundations (DMFs).
A Division Bench comprising Justice M S Sonak and Justice Dama Seshadri Naidu on Tuesday directed all parties including government, North and South Collectors, and Directorate of Mines & Geology to file an affidavit in response to a PIL filed by Sudesh Gaonkar of Velguem and Nilesh Velip of Collem, together with NGO Goa Foundation, regarding non-functioning of the two DMFs.
Both Gaonkar and Velip are from mining affected villages and the joint PIL writ petition states that both DMFs have accumulated funds to the tune of approximately Rs 90 crore each, which are to be spent for the welfare of people affected by mining along the mining-belt.
The PIL further states that over 40 proposals have been received for financial support including for rehabilitation of productive assets like irrigation sources and paddy fields by one DMF alone. However, despite the conditions of distress in the mining belt due to non-start of mining, the two DMFs abandoned their statutory responsibilities with the applications still pending.
The notices are returnable by two weeks as the Bench has posted the matter for hearing on September 10, 2020. “It appears that the Goa government is only desirous of returning mining leases to illegal miners but is wholly unwilling to invest any time and effort in the rehabilitation of productive assets damaged by past mining activity, despite adequate funds being available,” NGO Goa Foundation Director Claude Alvares said in a media release on Wednesday.
The petitioners pointed out that without even attending to these primary objectives for which the DMFs were set up, there is now a proposal to divert upto 30 per cent of DMF funds for COVID-19 relief in the State. “The persons for whom DMF Funds have been set aside by Parliament have suffered the ill-effects of mining activity for more than two decades, when compared with the COVID-19 epidemic of just 6 months’ duration. Such diversion of DMF funds is not only contrary to law, but is immoral,” he said adding that the petition has challenged the legality of the circular issued by the Ministry of Mines that recommends such diversion of funds.
The PIL has also demanded an exclusive website for achieving total transparency relating to DMF functioning while also mentioning that the present website which is part of the DMG website does not provide any worthwhile information.
