Panaji: In a bid to identify "rogue" traders,
Goa Government has decided to classify all the 90-odd mining leases in the state into three different categories depending on their mining status.
State Mines and Geology department has decided to embark
on a massive exercise which includes personal visits to all
the mining leases, checking records, licenses and segregating
them according to their legal status.
"Those (leases) which are having all the permissions will
be marked as green, those awaiting licenses from authorities
after applying for permissions will be marked brown and those
which have absolutely no permissions will be coded red,"
Director of Mines and Geology, Prasanna Acharya, told
reporters yesterday.
Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has cracked the whip to
break the backbone of illegal mining in the state after he
took over the reigns of the state.
Soon after suspending controversial mining director Arvind Lolienkar and replacing him with Acharya, the chief minister came up with the idea of classifying the mines.
Two separate teams, each led by officer to the rank of
deputy director would visit these mines to check records. The
ore extracted from a mine coded `red` and `brown` would be
considered as illegal while only mines marked `green` can tap
and export the minerals.
Acharya further said that several mines which are not
extracting ore were exporting minerals by excavating the old
mining rejects lying around in the state.
Goa government has banned handling of these dumps till
further orders, he said.
To ensure transparency in issuing NOCs to mining firms
that approach the department for shipping the ore, the mining
department has decided to accept the royalty payment for the
same online.
"Making payment of royalty and issuing NOC online will go
a big way in curbing illegally operating traders and exporters," Acharya said, adding the information pertaining to
the mining leases including their permissible capacity to
extract ore will be uploaded on government website.
State-run PSU Goa Electronics Limited has been assigned
the task to design the software which will help online payment
and also to keep tab on the ore exported, mined and permitted
as per the Environmental Clearance.
PTI
