A delegation of Goan MLAs going to the Centre to make a backdoor attempt to regularise, what has clearly been declared as illegal mining both by the Goa Foundation Judgment as well as the February 7 judgment quashing all lease renewals, is nothing but an ill thought short term attempt to supposedly revive mining in Goa. If it is done in this kind of a blatant manner, with absolutely no benefits to the land and its people, we will be left with absolute destruction of Goa’s environment and resources, and unfairly condone illegal mining for so many years with no guarantee on recovery losses incurred due to illegal mining.
The action undertaken by MLAs across political lines is for their own interests and those of mining companies which have indulged in illegal mining. It’s an attempt at whitewashing, illegal acts which have been called out and severely castigated by none other than the Supreme Court of India.
The loss of livelihood argument needs to be debated clearly. Admittedly there is a great deal of unrest in the mining belt because with no trade and business, income levels have fallen drastically. Also let us be clear. The people who are really hard hit due to the mining ban, are the people who ran allied businesses all along the mining belt – those in the vehicle and tyre repair business, those who ran restaurants and small establishments connected to the mining trade. But a solution to the livelihood issue cannot come about by advocating to the Centre to regularise all the mining which has taken place post 2007, when the highest court of the land, not once, but on two occasions, has pointed to the government illegal-miner nexus.
Moreover there is nothing called irregular mining. Mr Manohar Parrikar, as head of the Public Accounts Committee on illegal mining, when in opposition had stated that the term ‘irregular mining’ is nothing but illegal mining. And the Supreme Court judgments are unambiguous that the State had to regularise illegal mining from 23-Nov 2007 till date
Every right thinking Goan, including those who are raising the issue of livelihoods, should know that if the illegal gains from mining are recovered from those who have mined illegally there will be enough to cover outstandings and loans and that too of those who bought into the illegal mining boom in the hope of making killer profits. Is anybody unaware of how those in the truck business did not stop at two trucks and went on adding to their fleet? Are we unaware how leading politicians took mining transportation contracts and infused their trucks and vehicles into the mining system? Let us be sure whose livelihoods we are talking of before broad basing the livelihood argument by covering each and everyone in the mining business.
Claude Alvares and Rahul Basu, in an article in the Review section of this edition of Herald mention the main take away of the Goa Foundation judgment of 2014. a) All mining leases had expired on November 22, 2007, and mining done thereafter for five years was illegal; (b) The Goa government would have to issue fresh leases.
Alvares and Basu state that “nearly five years of 100% illegal mining was conservatively estimated at Rs 65,058 crore. Also, as the leases would continue on the old regime without auctions, a further Rs 79,865 crore would be handed over during the remaining life of the leases (to expire on November 22, 2027)
The court has come down heavily on non recovery in its February 2018 judgment quashing all the leases.
“…Without making any serious attempt to recover such huge amounts, the State of Goa has granted second renewal of mining leases and the MoEF played ball by lifting the abeyance order in respect of the environment clearances,” the Apex Court stated.
WHAT ABOUT ENVIRONMENT RESTORATION?
The desperation to kick start mining cannot be an excuse to cover up illegal mining and not recover loses to the State. This is people’s money. At the same time there seems to be no debate on the need to restore the land, give it back its greenery and its clean rivers. The closure of mining since 2014 has brought better air in the mining villages, more greenery and fresher streams. As we recover amounts earned through illegal mining and put it in a peoples trust for welfare activity and helping those in need, the time away from mining should be spent in restoring the earth back to its earlier pristine state.
This will immediately have a positive impact on tourism as the land is rejuvenated and Goa gets its greenery back along with a large cleanup operation needed in that sector too.
How long will and should mining stop? In the current fluid state that we are in, right thinking practical people do not in any case see a start before three to four years because there is no roadmap. We are uncertain about what kind of forces will take over mining through the auction route. We also do not know if a government PSU will be equipped efficiently to carry out the technical aspect of mining and exercise all controls.
A harsh but a prudent long term decision has to be taken with the following roadmap 1) Recover all earnings accrued out of illegal mining with all investigations complete in all aspects 2) Knowing fully well the time that will be taken to clean up the slate, do not restart any mining till 2027 when the leases would have expired and allow this down time to rejuvenate the earth 3) Use this time effectively to also work on ground level data on the amount of minerals we have so that when mining restarts Goa will talk of winning and earning from all mineral resources and not just iron ore.
If we are harsh now, it is only because a clean rejuvenated land with a proper mining governance mechanism in place will be able to deliver sustainable and effective mining for the next 70 years. We owe this to our next generations. Convert this crisis into an opportunity for which the future will remember us.
