Buffer Zone issue pending due to Goa Govt: MoEF
GOANEWS DESK, PANAJI | 01 May 2013 18:26 IST
The union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) has urged the Supreme Court to direct Goa government to furnish information regarding Eco-Sensitive Zone in order to demarcate the buffer zone for mines around the sanctuaries.
The MoEF, in a fresh affidavit filed before the Supreme Court on 25 April, has also requested the apex court to direct Goa government to furnish the information within a time-bound period.
“Pending this, the MoEF has no other option but to consider the area located within 10 kms of all the national parks/wildlife sanctuaries in the state as Eco-Sensitive Zones (ESZ)”, stated the affidavit.
The MoEF has also said this information is vital to issue environment clearances to the mines, which do not fall in the ESZ.
The MoEF had kept all the environmental clearances to Goa’s mines in abeyance on 14 September last year.
Goa government as well as mining stakeholders are demanding to reduce the buffer zone as no mine could function in Goa if the buffer zone is marked as 10 kms around the sanctuaries.
The MoEF has thus constituted Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) on 21 March to examine documents of all the mines in Goa, on case-to-case basis, including its environment clearance.
The EAC even had its first meeting on 5 April.
The EAC, states the affidavit, needs information regarding the ESZs around the mines in Goa, which could be ascertained only after seeking information from Goa government.
The MoEF, as per the affidavit, needs two kinds of information from Goa government:
: Site specific proposals in respect of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries to notify ESZ.
: Distance of periphery of all the mines from the periphery of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries with the help of satellite images, maps and ground truthing.
The MoEF affidavit has also reminded the court its directive issued in December 2006 to direct all the state governments to provide these proposals to MoEF within four weeks.
“Despite pursuing the matter with Goa government, the proposals are yet to be received by us”, states the affidavit.
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