PANJIM | May 07, 2015: Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) will meet in the last week of June to decide on the consent to operate for mines even as its team is set to begin inspection of 61 renewed mining leases from Friday, officials said on Wednesday. The inspections are being conducted as part of the process to grant the Consent to Operate under the Air and Water Acts.
GSPCB Chairman Jose Manuel Noronha said, “The delay has been caused as two important members of the technical committee are in Delhi.” He added that “the consent to operate would be granted with some stringent directions as issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF).”
The technical committee will inspect all the mining leases, environment clearances, validity of mining leases and their transportation routes, to ensure that there is no movement of trucks laden with ore in habitation. The Consent to Operate is expected to be granted by July, with one of the major conditions being that the mine owners will have to install ambient air monitoring stations at their respective lease sites to measure the pollution level. There are currently 18 such stations installed in the mining areas.
The Board has set up a technical committee, consisting of environmental experts from the Board and legal experts, which will inspect the mining leases.
“The inspection will be completed by the first week of June. The report will then be placed before the Board members, who will meet in the last week of June. The decision on all the mining leases will be considered together if they are qualified by the committee,” Noronha said.
(Source: http://www.heraldgoa.in/)