PANJIM | May 19, 2015: With mining companies failing to submit documents pertaining to their mining leases, Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) has not commenced the inspection of any of the 61 leases for grant of Consent to Operate under the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) and Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Acts.
Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) has begun inspection of mining leases, as lease holders have submitted mining plans for approval.
Speaking to Herald, GSPCB chairman Jose Manuel Noronha confirmed that mining companies had failed to submit the required documentation of their leases, failing which the Board cannot go ahead with the inspection. “Documents like mining plan, transportation routes, map indicating water bodies, buffer zone, etc, have not been submitted by a majority of the mining firms,” he said.
Of the 61 leases, the decision in case of 17 leases will be taken by the government as their legality has to be authenticated, while another 34 are caught in legal battles before the Administrative Tribunal. These leases belong to Sesa Goa and Fomento.
Meanwhile, IBM has begun inspection of mining leases for approval of mining plan. Nine leases, six belonging to Sesa Goa and one each of V M Salgaocar, Fomento and Chowgules, are being inspected.
The aspects being looked into are topography of land, drainage pattern, vegetation, climate and rainfall data of the mining leases area subject to the capping capacity of the mining leases. IBM will also identify the non-mineral areas for rejected ore dumps.
The State government has renewed 89 mining leases under the Mines and Minerals Development Regulation (MMDR) Act. However, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has lifted the abeyance on environment clearances of 72 leases, of which 61 have been allowed fresh extraction.
(Source: http://www.heraldgoa.in/)