PANAJI
The High Court of Bombay at Goa has disallowed Vedanta Ltd from transporting iron ore during the night through the alternate route in Pilgao, Bicholim while also directing the company to submit an undertaking by Friday.
The order on Thursday came during the hearing on miscellaneous civil applications. In the first plea, Pilgao resident Anil Salelkar alleged that Vedanta was transporting iron ore at night in violation of environmental and regulatory guidelines while Vedanta’s plea sought to resume transportation on the original EC-approved route that allowed more trips. Both the pleas were dismissed.
The High Court upheld that only daytime transportation would be permitted. "The High Court has cancelled night-time transportation of ore on the non-EC-diverted route. Vedanta can transport only 40 trucks per hour, which aligns with the government's SOP for mining ore passing through villages," Advocate Norma Alvares, representing the villagers, said. The Court asked the company to file undertaking to not carry out night operations.
The Directorate of Mines and Geology, in its order dated December 11, 2024, had permitted Vedanta Ltd (Block-I Bicholim Mining Block) to transport 40 trips per hour from 9 am to 5 pm and 50 trips per hour from 11:30 pm to 5:30 am. However, after objections were raised, Advocate General Devidas Pangam assured the court in the previous hearing that ore transportation would be restricted to 5:45 pm in accordance with the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) of Directorate of Mines and Geology.
During Monday’s hearing, allegations of night-time transportation re-surfaced after which Pangam assured investigation and strict action. “We do not allow this and will not allow it in the future. We will investigate and take strict action if such cases arise,” he asserted.
Earlier, Vedanta’s application sought the High court's directions to the government to allow them use the EC-approved route, which allowed 254 trips per day between 6 am and 5:45 pm. The villager's plea, on the other hand, had sought to stop the use of the 800-meter stretch for the ore transportation on the diverted route.
