PANAJI: The Goa Foundation, which had approached the Supreme Court over the issue of illegal mining in the state, has dashed off a letter to the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) asking it to scrutinize mining lease documents before granting consent to stakeholders to operate under the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) and Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Acts.
The GSPCB will begin inspection from May 8 onwards. It has received applications from 89 mining leases.
But, Goa Foundation director, Claude Alvares, said there are only 61 mining leases that have been renewed for the second time and possess valid environment clearances (ECs).
The state government had earlier renewed 89 mining leases, with the ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEF) restoring 72 ECs. Alvares pointed out that the MoEF has restored a total of 72 ECs, which deals with a total of 92 mining leases.
He added that, of these 92 mining leases, only 61 have been granted a second renewal by the Goa government under section 8(3) of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act.
"Out of these 61 leases, the second renewal of 17 had been approved on January 12 this year. The MMDR Act was also amended by an ordinance on the same day. The amended Act does not have a provision for renewal of mining leases. The renewal of these leases is, therefore, extremely doubtful. Hence, I would request the board (GSPCB) to look into this matter carefully, as it is required to grant consent only to those in possession of a valid mining leases," Alvares explained.
He also said that this does not mean that the Goa Foundation endorses grant of consent to the remaining 44 mining leases which have been renewed and whose ECs have been restored as well.
Mining activity in Goa came to a halt in September 2012 after the Shah Commission report on illegal mining was tabled in Parliament.
