Pissurlem villagers win as High Court halts ore transportation from village

PANJIM: In a victory to the villagers of Pissurlem protesting the transportation of ore in the village, the High Court of Bombay at Goa has restrained transportation of any materials. 

During the hearing on a petition by NGO Goa Foundation, the Division Bench comprising Justice M S Sonak and Justice R N Laddha ordered restraining the transportation of any materials from TC No 95/52, while directing the respondents to ensure that this restraint is enforced and there is no transportation of any material from the locations. 

The PIL challenged the e-auction of items listed under Serial No. 29 of the 27th e-auction conducted on January 19, 2022 by the Department of Mines and Geology and the transport permits granted thereafter to transport mineral ore from the mining dump on former mining lease with TC No 95/52 located at Pissurlem. The transport of that material began recently, after which the villagers came to the streets demanding its stoppage, protests which led to a law and order situation.  

“Since several illegalities have been perpetrated by the lease holder in question, the dump site should not be touched pending finalisation of the investigation by an agency like the SIT which is yet to visit the site. Further, no transport of minerals may take place without the consent and monitoring of the State PCB and after adhering to the procedures laid down in the Goa Mineral Policy 2013 placed before the Supreme Court,” the petition said. 

The PIL alleged that the lease is affected by several illegalities and large quantities of ore were declared removed from the lease. It further said that huge dumps were created, when in actual fact no mining took place on the lease for more than a decade.

During the hearing of the plea on Tuesday, the Court said that it would like to satisfy that there is proper compliance with the requirements of installation of AAQM stations along the specified route of transportation before such transportation continues further. Though, Advocate Pavithran AV, appearing for one the respondents in the PIL, based on telephonic instructions, stated to the Court that such stations have been installed at least at one place, initially, the position that such stations have not been installed was not disputed.

Advocate for the petitioner Norma Alvares pointed out that the transportation had earlier commenced without there being any monitoring whatsoever and had thereafter stopped after people protested about the pollution. She submitted that transportation has recommenced and that is why urgent circulation was sought and interim reliefs pressed.

The Bench then directed the Goa State Pollution Control Board to file a detailed affidavit consistent with their requirements as spelt out in the communication dated March 15, 2022 and also clarify whether the directions in its communication dated February 6, 2020 should apply to the present situation. “If so, whether there is any compliance. If the Goa State Pollution Control Board be of the view that the communication dated 06.02.2020 will not apply, its position on this issue should be clarified in the affidavit,” it said.

The Court, in its order, further sought to know the position from the State government about holding of e-auction without ascertaining and declaring the grade of the ore to be auctioned. “In the present case, the records indicate that the material was knocked down at the base price of Rs 350 per metric tonne. The petitioner, in paragraph 31 of the petition has pleaded and such pleadings are even backed with documents that where the grade of the ore was specified, the bid amounts at the e-auction ranges between Rs 1,360 per metric tonne to Rs 4,130 per metric tonne. For example, ore with Fe content of 48.50% fetched Rs 1,360 per metric tonne and ore with Fe content of 52.35% fetched Rs 4,130 per metric tonne. This is an additional reason why ad-interim relief is required to be granted at this stage itself,” the order read as. 

Advocate General Devidas Pangam informed the Court that samples have already been collected and sent for analysis. In the affidavit to be filed on behalf of the State Government, the Court asked for disclosures about the results of the analysis for consideration. Accordingly, the matter has been placed for further consideration on April 20, 2022 while granting the interim relief. The matter will be heard on the same day.