PANJIM | Jun 19, 2015: Reiterating its demand, the state government has urged the Union Mines Ministry to permit dumping of iron ore rejects outside mining lease area, considering the limited scope within lease areas.

At the Union Mines Ministry’s Co-ordination Cum Empowered Committee (CCEC) meeting held on June 5, the State government raised the issue seeking proper solution to it by incorporating provisions of dumping outside the lease area in the recently amended Mines and Minerals Development Regulation (MMDR) Act, 2015.

The meeting chaired by Union Secretary (Mines), Dr Anup K Pujari was attended by outgoing State Secretary Mines Pawan Kumar Sain and Director Mines Prasanna Acharya.

“State raised the issue of provision of area for dumping in the existing mining leases. State requested that necessary amendment or legislation be drafted to allow dumps outside lease boundary,” sources said. Union Joint Secretary (Mines) Arun Kumar elaborated the problem with regard to this requirement of dumps being non-contiguous and being non-mineralised.

The meeting had a detailed discussion in the matter and it was requested that some solution needs to be found. Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar had in a letter to Union Mines Minister Narendra Singh Tomar in May requested him to consider dumping of iron ore rejects outside the lease area, thereby removing the deadlock in resumption of mining operations by giving effect to the further required amendment in the act.

“The amended MMDR Act, 2015 does not include the legislative provision to allow dumping of iron ore rejects outside the mining lease area, which was required for resumption of full-fledged mining operations in Goa, keeping in view the peculiar situation of mining leases in the state,” Parsekar, who also holds the mining portfolio, had said.

The Supreme Court in its order passed on April 21, 2014, has said that dumping of iron ore rejects outside the mining lease area is illegal. Even Additional Secretary Mines, government of India, R Sridharan during his Goa visit in February this year, had said that dumping outside lease area is illegal since the amended MMDR Act has not thrown any light on the issue.

The state has nearly 750 million tonnes of ore in identified dumps. The apex court has formed a six-member committee to recommend how dumps can be scientifically handled. The report will be submitted in October, this year.

(Source: http://www.heraldgoa.in/)