Jan 2, 2008 Panaji : .Massive mountain ranges of low-grade iron ore that are many hundred feet tall have become the new flashpoint between activists and the establishment in Goa.These are commonly known as dumps because the low-grade, uneconomical ore is dumped with mining leases.The mammoth mountain of once rejected iron ore is now under the BJP-led coalition government.
They want to revive the Goa mining sector before the 2022 Assembly elections.
Pramod Sawant, the Chief Minister of India stated Wednesday that his government has formulated a policy to regulate mining dumps both on public and private land.
Sawant stated that the fines imposed by mining leaseholders for dumping refuse ore in areas outside of the lease area were nearly Rs 200 crore.After paying the royalty, he said that only valid lessees could harvest and export the ore after they had paid the fines.
The Chief Minister stated that any unclaimed ore would be sold by the government and added that it was consistent with Supreme Court directives.
Sawant also stated that no fresh environmental clearances are required for the harvesting of the dumps.This has angered many green activists.
Director of Green NGO Goa Foundation, Claude Alvares says the claim by Chief Minister is a sham.
Alvares stated that the policy of dump mining was a ruse to fool the Goa people before the elections.It will not be a success since such permits cannot be issued until the Supreme Court has heard the dump mining issues pending before it.
He stated that export permits for dump materials are illegal without approval of the Supreme Court or valid Goa leaseholders.
The Supreme Court is currently deciding on the disposal of dumps.”The new policy, which is illegal in the first place,” he said.He said that the Advocate General had advised Goa against working or removing dumps.
Sawant stated that only the mining of iron ore dumps would be able to restart the state’s economy for the next five years.
“This is the reason I’ve been saying that there was potential to see activity resuming for five years.” Sawant stated that today we had finalized the auction rates of ore depending on different grades.
Surprisingly, though Sawant claimed there are between 10 and 20 million metric tons of iron ore at Goa’s mine dumps, Goa Mineral Policy 2013 by the state government states that the ore stocks were in excess of 700,000 tonnes according to undertakings that were submitted to authorities.
However, the opposition raised concerns about Sawant’s initiative.Sudin Dhavalikar, former Chief Minister and Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party leader, said that it is more focused on elections than restarting Goa’s mining industry.
Fresh iron ore extraction in Goa has been prohibited since 2018.
The Cabinet approved allowing the extraction of between 10 and 20 million tonnes of ore from landfills.The government should not claim that this is between 10 and 20 million tons.It’s more like 100 million.Dhavalikar stated that these dumps might be the source for a new fraud.
maya/bg
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