PANAJI
In a major setback to State government's plan to resume iron ore mining activities, the Centre has refused to grant any relaxation or withdraw its 2014 order that bars the transportation of ore through villages and habitations.
The State government had approached Union Ministry for Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) requesting to withdraw its Office Memorandum issued on October 2014 or to grant relaxation to Goa after the Bombay High Court at Goa banned ore transportation activities through Mayem village citing the said Office Memorandum.
In a letter to the Union minister, chief minister Pramod Sawant had raised the concern of miners who are unable to transport the ore through the village as all the e-auctioned mines are located at the periphery of the village.
During his meeting with Union Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav in New Delhi, Sawant had raised the concern.
However, sources informed that the Minister refused to withdraw the Office Memorandum or grant relaxation at this point. "The Office Memorandum is not restricted to Goa but for all the mining States.
Ministry was clear that withdrawal of Office Memorandum was not possible as there are Court cases related to it pending in many States," sources said.
Ministry has opined that the State is free to move the Supreme Court challenging the HC order.
The Centre’s 2014 Office Memorandum says, “the transportation of minerals by roads passing through villages shall not be allowed. A ‘bypass’ road should be constructed (say, leaving a gap of at least 200m) for transporting minerals.
The Office Memorandum says this measure should be taken so that “the impact of sound, dust, and accidents is mitigated.” The project proponent shall bear the cost of widening and strengthening the public road network if required, the Office Memorandum says.
It had further added, “No road movement should be allowed on the existing village road network without appropriately increasing the carrying capacity of such roads.”
State has so far e-auctioned nine mineral blocks while only one mining company has been able to start operations. However, the company has not been able to transport the ore due to the opposition to the usage of village roads.
The environment ministry’s October 2014 OM was cited by Mulakh Khazan Tenants Association from Mayem village before the High Court to seek a stay on the transportation.
The 2014 decision was taken by the environment ministry’s Expert Appraisal Committee headed by MS Nagar following concern over the impact of mining activities on villages and other habitations.
