PANJIM: Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) on Wednesday completed inspections of 44 mining leases before deciding on grant of consent to operate under the Water and Air pollution Acts.
The Board members will meet on July 10 to decide whether to grant consent to the 44 leases that have been allowed to extract iron ore afresh by the Mines department. GSPCB, in its board meeting held in September 2012, had rejected the renewal of the ‘consent to operate’ permission to 107 leases, following mining operations being halted in the State.
Speaking to Herald, GSPCB Chairman Jose Manuel Noronha said that inspection of 44 mining leases has been completed, with water samples of water bodies in the vicinity collected for testing along with studying other aspects like transportation routes etc. Noronha said that all 89 renewed mining leases had applied for consent to operate, of which only 61 mining leases have been allowed to extract iron ore on a pro-rata basis, to fit into the 20 million tonne cap, fixed by the Supreme Court.
Out of these 61 leases, the second renewal of 17 leases has been challenged by Goa Foundation, who claimed that the renewals were approved on January 12, this year, the day when the Mines and Minerals Development Regulation (MMDR) Act amendment was passed through an ordinance.
“This turned out to be a disputed move and was the reason as to why GSPCB kept aside those 17 mining leases, while 44 mining leases were inspected,” Noronha said.
The inspection report will be placed before the Board’s technical advisory committee.
