The Supreme Court of India(SCI)on Monday April 21,2014 lifted the ban on mining iron ore in Goa, but put an annual cap of 20 million tonnes on excavation.
In
its judgment, the Green Bench, comprising Justices A.K. Patnaik, S.S.
Nijjar and Ibrahim Kalifulla, said: “The panel [an expert committee] had
suggested that for the time being, annual excavation of 20 million
tonnes of iron ore may be permitted in Goa with adequate monitoring of
its impact on different ecological and environmental parameters, which
will also help the expert committee in its future appraisal.”
Justice
Patnaik said: “We find from the report of the expert committee that Goa
heavily depended on iron ore mining for revenue as well as employment.
The legislative policy behind the Mines and Minerals Development
Regulations Act made by Parliament is mineral development through
mining.”
The Bench said a ban to protect the
environment would seriously affect the livelihood of nearly 1.5 lakh
people in the State who were employed in the industry. Many people had
taken loans and bought lorries for transportation of iron ore. The State
government’s policy was to encourage mineral mining.
“We
cannot, therefore, prohibit mining altogether, but if mining has to
continue, the lessees who benefit the most from it must contribute 10
per cent of their sale proceeds to the Goan Iron Ore Permanent Fund for
sustainable mining,” the Bench said.
It directed the
State Department of Mines and Geology and the State Pollution Control
Board to monitor mining, in consultation with other statutory bodies.
The
Bench asked the State government to frame a comprehensive scheme, in
consultation with the Central Empowered Committee, and submit a report
within six months.
The Bench rejected a plea to
quash the Justice Shah Commission report on the ground that no notice
was given to the lessees. The commission found large-scale
irregularities in mining.
But the Bench said: “We
cannot also direct prosecution of the mining lessees on the basis of the
findings in the report of the Justice Shah Commission, if they have not
been given the opportunity of being heard and to produce evidence in
their defence.”
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