Goa body for review of mining lease

NEW DELHI: The Goa Foundation has sought a review of 70-odd licenses issued for iron ore mining in the palm tree-rich state. GF director Dr Claude Alvares said at a press conference that these mines, apart from a large number of other industries, had been in the business in Goa for years, but they didn’t have requisite clearances from the ministry of environment and forests.

After the supreme court passed an order to close these mines, the leaseholders approached the ministry of environment and forests for environment clearances. Instead of utilising the opportunity to enforce its environment regulations and impose conditions on these mining activities, the ministry sought instead to support the mining lobby by speeding up the process of these clearances, Dr Alvares added.

“Practically all the mines were granted environment clearances en masse within a short span of two years. Expert committees appointed to evaluate mining proposals were not permitted to visit any of the mines. Eventually, all the environmental clearances were issued without a single site inspection,” he said.

b_rakesh@dnaindia.net