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Sawant said that in fiscal 2013-14, the state government had collected nearly Rs 200 crore in fines from mining leaseholders who had dumped reject ore outside the mining lease areas. He added that valid lessees who had paid the fines would be allowed to harvest the ore and export it after taking permission from the Indian Bureau of Mines, on paying royalty. Unclaimed ore, the Chief Minister said, would be auctioned by the government, adding that the dump mining policy was in sync with the Supreme Court directives on the subject.Sawant added that fresh environment clearances were not mandatory for harvesting the dumps, a point which has enraged green activists in the state.According to Claude Alvares, director of green NGO Goa Foundation, the Chief Minister’s claim is an eyewash.”The policy for dump mining is an eyewash to hoodwink the people of Goa before the elections and will remain a non-starter since no such permits can be issued until the Supreme Court hears the issues related to dump mining pending before it,” Alvares said.”In the absence of an approval from the Supreme Court and in the absence of any valid leaseholders in Goa, such permits to export dump material are illegal unless the dumps themselves are auctioned instead of being handed out in exchange for royalty,” he added, calling the state government policy “completely illegal”.”The new policy is completely illegal since the issue of the disposition of the dumps is still pending before the Supreme Court. The Advocate General of the state had also advised the Goa government against any removal or working on dumps,” he said.
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Iron ore dumps new battleground in poll-bound Goa
