No illegal mining, only illegal ore handing & exports: CM

GOANEWS DESK, PANAJI | 16 July 2012 13:14 IST

There is no illegal mining, only illegal ore handling, dump handling and exports, said chief minister Manohar Parrikar today in the Assembly.

Dabolim MLA Mauvin Godinho raised a question how the government could answer him that no illegal mines exist in Goa when Parrikar himself had prepared a Public Accounts Committee report over it.

Parrikar said the written answer to the question is that no illegal mine exists in Goa. All the mining leases are legal.

He however went a step ahead to state that no illegal mining exists in Goa but it is related to handing of ore as well as the dumps of mining rejects.

He also pointed out that this had led to illegal exports to the tune of around four to five million tones every year.

Parrikar also informed the House that the government plans to appoint a team of reputed chartered accountants to audit reports of mining companies of last five years to check the actual ore extraction vis-à-vis the exports.

Anyone found involved in any kind of illegalities in this audit would be dealt sternly, including a criminal action, said the chief minister.

The chief minister also reiterated that the mining policy would be placed on the table of the House by end of the ongoing Assembly session.

“The draft rules are ready but would be notified only after the policy is finalised”, he said.

The government plans to keep the policy open for a month for objections and suggestions, before finalizing it.

Replying to a query raised by Sanquelim MLA Pramod Sawant, Parrikar assured to build a separate development fund for the mining belt in order to deal with specific issues of the area like water, roads etc.

“I have already said that seven per cent of the revenue from mining would be spent on the mining belt”, he added.


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Parrikars mining policy is wholly illegal, unethical, immoral and improper. IT is based on a faulty premises. 1st declare that so and so is doing illegal mining even before enquiry, then conduct a sham inquiry and then grab the ore and then sell it in a staged auction. All this by applying new rules to 25 year old dump belonging to some mine owner and not to the govt. further in total disregard to the forest grown on it. by this logic tomarrow parrikar will declare increase house rent by 1000 rupees and because you have not paid these extra 1000 rupees fthrought your life your house will be forcibly grabbed and sold to the auction purchaser in a rigged auction process. We all know how auctions take place in goa. during elections parrikar was blaming congress of 22000 crore scam. Now parrkar has planned a 33,000 crore scam.

- bhushan, panaji | 16 th July 2012 14:06

 

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