Goa puts a halt on mining activities in the state

The state government of Goa has issued a notification suspending all mining operations in the state. The decision has come following the indictment of former chief minister Digambar Kamat by the Shah commission, which inquired the illegal mining in the state. The government has stated that this has been done to scrutinise clearances obtained by the leaseholders and not to allow continuation of operations without verification of requisite approvals in the coming mining season. The government has also stated that those mines found to be carrying out mining with proper documents will be allowed to resume operations for rest of the mining season after scrutiny of documents.

The government has also made clear that the suspension of mining operations, shall not affect trade and transportation of the ore mined and existing in the leasehold area, in transit or stored or stocked on the jetties. The leaseholders or traders who have procured such quantities of ore have been asked to report the exact quantum of ore with grade and other details of ore and location of the extract, within a period of seven days to the mines director.

Goa has around 90 operational mines of the existing 337 mining leases. The Shah commission, which was constituted by the Centre to look into illegal mining in various States, reported blatant illegalities in the mining sector in Goa and has pointed out that the losses incurred by the state exchequer between 2006-11 was Rs 35,000 crore.