Team Herald
PANJIM: Pointing to the fact that 25 percent of the illegal iron ore mining cases in the country have been reported from Goa, Goa Foundation, the petitioner in the Supreme Court, in a letter to Union Mines Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has warned to once again knock on the doors of the judiciary, as it is losing faith in the Ministry’s capability to curb illegal mining.
“One of the key directions of the Supreme Court judgment was that strict controls be imposed to prevent illegal mining. However, we find with amazement that tiny Goa accounts for 25 percent of the cases of illegal mining detected by the Mining Surveillance System,” GF director Dr Claude Alvares said in his letter.
He pointed out that as per data furnished by the Ministry, of the 48 unauthorised mining cases detected across country, 12 pertain to Goa.
“On behalf of the people of Goa, I sincerely hope your government will take necessary steps to halt such illegal mining in the State. We are losing faith in both the sincerity and capacity of your Ministry to stop such illegal mining,” Alvares said, and added, “If it continues, our organisation will have no alternative but to move the Courts again to bring some sense to this (mining) sector.”
GF has also brought to the notice of the Minister the non-implementation of funds collected under the District Mineral Foundation (DMF). “At the moment, some Rs140 crore are with the DMF Goa, but not a rupee has been utilised for the welfare of the mining-affected,” Alvares said.
He claimed that as per media reports, DMF funds will be used for construction of mining corridors and widening of existing roads in mining areas. “The construction of mining corridors must be paid for by the mining companies, as this is exclusively for their use. It would be sheer abuse of the mining-affected communities to take funds meant for their welfare and divert them to subsidise mining companies,” he said.
