PANJIM: After about 15 months of meetings, appointments and lobbying, the government claims it has managed to convince the Centre about the catastrophic effect of mining closure in Goa.
While the State has been demanding the change in the laws to restart mining for long, they are encouraged by the fact that there Centre is taking up the matter with some urgency, with even the Prime Minister Narendra Modi making a pitch to re-start mining operations in Goa.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant mentioned this at the Niti Ayog meeting where he had asked the Centre for a mining package for Goa.
The PM had spoken about Goa’s mining issue before, but many had brushed it aside, calling it an election stunt as there was no movement on the ground from the Centre to resolve the crisis. However, Sawant has asserted that the Centre is quite serious about the issue and may soon tweak laws to re-start mining.
“The fact that PM Modi spoke about Goa mining issue at Niti Ayog meeting speaks volumes of Centre’s commitment on the issue,” he told Herald. Sawant says he hopes some solution would be out very soon. “I will continue taking up the issue with Centre and he (PM) too knows it is a question of livelihood of people and so also Goa’s economy,” he added.
Questions have arisen if the visible change in attitude with regard to mining is because of BJP’s debacle in the Lok Sabha polls or if it is down to the persistent efforts by CM Sawant.
Former Chief Minister (late) Manohar Parrikar too did his bit to resume mining but his illness didn’t allow him to take a more proactive role. The mining dependents, including the leaseholders, hope that the Centre will soon make an amendment to the Goa, Daman and Diu (Abolition and Declaration of Mining Leases) Act (Abolition Act), 1987 to pave the way for resuming mining activity, which came to a standstill in March last year following the Supreme Court’s order.
