Team Herald
PANJIM: The State government’s delay in constituting the State Level Committee to monitor and approve projects to be taken up under the District Mineral Fund (DMF), has hampered Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation’s (GSIDC) plan to tender the first phase of the mining corridor, to ferry ore from the lease site to jetties bypassing thickly inhabited areas.
Almost 22 months after instituting the DMF, the State government is yet to decide on projects to be taken up with finance from the fund, as the committee is yet to be constituted.
The fund has been collected from mine owners who deposit 30 percent of their royalty payment for the development of barren mining areas. Till date around Rs 150 crore have been deposited under DMF.
The three-phase pending mining corridor project is to be constructed through funds from DMF. However, in the absence of the committee, the Rs 104 crore proposal for the first phase – Uguem to Guddemol, of around 8.9km, is pending for financial approval.
Speaking to Herald, GSIDC chairman Deepak Pawaskar said the proposal is yet to receive financial approval from the government. “The project will be funded through DMF. However, the committee to approve the projects under DMF is yet to be constituted and hence the sanction is pending,” he said.
“We have been informed that a State Level Committee headed by the Principal Secretary Mines will be constituted within a fortnight,” Pawaskar said.
The District Mineral Fund was introduced after the Centre amended the MMDR (Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation) Act in 2015. It was endorsed by the Supreme Court, which is hearing the Goa illegal mining case.
In January 2016, Directorate of Mines and Geology (DMG) had notified the Goa District Mineral Foundation Rules 2016.
GSIDC has proposed three phases in the mining corridor construction. The first phase of the mining corridor is proposed between Uguem and Guddemol, having a stretch of around 8.9km, and the second phase between Guddemol and Capxem with a stretch of 8.4km.
