TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: The Union Mines ministry has now said it. The Additional Secretary Mines N Sridharan, addressing a workshop attended by mining officials and mine owners said that large scale illegality in the mining sector across India, including Goa, brought a bad name to the industry. “This necessitated the need to look into some legal framework, in order to collate all the problems, as identified by Justice M B Shah Commission in its report on illegal mining,” he said explaining the need that arose for drafting of fresh rules.
He quantified this further. “The mass scale illegal mining is responsible for bringing in bad name to the industry,” he commented, and laid the onus solely on the State government to overcome all the crisis and issues, facing the industry, to ensure that the industry does not have to shut down in future. M Sridharan was here, to meet the government and mine owners (and not all stake holders) and explain the nuances and intricacies of the ordinance passed by the Modi government to amend the MMDR act.
The State government after submitting to the Union Mines Ministry that Goa leases which had submitted renewal proposal before the Ordinance to amend the Mines and Minerals Development and Regulations Act, should function as per the old MDR act, re-pitched what it called “important issues”.
“The government has identified some important issues to be placed before the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) to restore the mining industry on sustainable basis, said Prasanna Acharya, director of Mines and Geology, on Friday.
This comes two days before a crucial meeting between Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar and Minister for Environment Prakash Javadekar on Monday, wherein government would be pressing for immediate grant of environment clearances (ECs) to mines on a case to case basis.
“Efforts are on to ensure that mining industry resumes on sustainable ground, so that Goa gets its reputation back in the international market. We ensure that mining operations are done by complying with all the norms and conditions,” Acharya said.
