Team Herald
PANJIM: The Goa State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) has agreed to consider the revised District Survey Report (DSR) for granting Environmental Clearances (EC) for 12 sand mining zones. These include five zones in the Zuari River and seven in the Mandovi River.
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The DSR will be made available for public review for a period of 21 days before any final decisions are made.
In November, the SEIAA referred the application for sand mining in the Zuari and Mandovi rivers back to the South Goa District Collector and the Directorate of Mines and Geology for reappraisal and a more thorough assessment of the mining zones in both North and South Goa. As a result, the DSR was revised to address the SEIAA’s queries and published in the public domain on December 10, 2024.
In a separate development, the SEIAA dismissed a complaint filed by a resident of Sirgao who alleged that the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) reports for mining blocks I, II, and III in Sirgao were incomplete, inaccurate, and misleading. The SEIAA reviewed the EIA reports and noted that they had been approved in accordance with the Environmental Clearances (EC) already granted and were published on the Parivesh Portal. The Authority concluded that the reports complied with the necessary requirements.
The SEIAA also pointed out that the petitioner had been given the opportunity to raise objections during the public hearings and subsequently rejected the complaint.
