Uncertainty looms large over legal sand mining activities in the State for the upcoming season, as the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) is yet to take a call on granting Environmental Clearances (EC) for the sand extraction along the river beds. Pending completion of accretion and erosion study undertaken by the Department of Environment though National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) across all the rivers, SEIAA is unlikely to take call on EC.
Directorate of and Geology (DMG) is awaiting green clearance from SEIAA for granting sand mining permits for the season. The department had not renewed or granted permits for 2018 and 2019 season, after an NGO approached Bombay High Court at Goa seeking restrictions on the number of permits.
DMG had issued over 300 permits for the season 2017 with a cap of 1400 cubic meters per permit.
The study by NIO will cover rivers of Mandovi, Chapora, Terekhol, Macazana, Rivona, Loutolim and Talaulim river beds.
NIO, who was suppose to submit a comprehensive final report, will now work in three phases- Pre Monsoon, Monsoons and Post Monsoons, with three interim reports.
A senior official told HERALD that the department is not in a position to grant any permits for the activities during the upcoming season, unless environment department grants ECs.
“As per the EC norms, the State has to conduct the study of rivers to assess the impact of sand mining activities so far. The study will give clear picture on the impact the has on the ecological equilibrium of river and marine life,” official said.
“The environment department has even informed the High Court that the ECs for will be granted only once the study is complete,” official said adding that during a recent meeting with Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, the issue was raised about pending EC.
Apart from undertaking accretion and erosion study, NIO will also monitor other parameters like bio-diversity index.
“Riverbed causes several alterations to the physical characteristics of both a river and riverbed. These can severely impact the ecological equilibrium of a river and damage plants,
animals and riparian habitats,” official said.
In a petition filed by NGO Rainbow Warriors, the High Court had ruled that activities undertaking without ECs cannot be considered as legal. The Court had noted that no fresh carrying capacity assessment of rivers has been undertaken since 2012 and so also the assessment of
depth of rivers.
