It is now upto the Chief Minister, whose own PAC reportoutlined each of these illegalities and more to do what he declared andpromised in his budget speech - “I reiterate the commitment of my government toforthwith stop all forms of illegal mining.”
This commitment needs to be displayed. It needs to bedisplayed by telling a man called Dinar Tarcar, whose violations topped thePublic Accounts Committee report of Mr Parrikar, that the illegalities primafacie found in his operations will be probed and his mine, allowed to bereopened, should be shut immediately.
As the raising contractor for Mine Vangi Bindi Advona TC10/51, Tarcar has been officially accused by the original lessee of sellingexported cargoes from the mine to two of his own Indian companies MinescapeMinerals and Dinar Tarcar Resources, who further exported to variousinternational buyers vide various export contracts.
The original lesses have “assumed” that Tarcar’s companies have exported and sold the cargoes originating from the mine andclubbing the same along with cargoes of another mine (Tembocheo Dongaroperating under TC 59/51), by under invoicing, thereby looting the stateof export duties..
It needs to be displayed by recovering mining royalty dues,as a matter of good practice, and not wake up when defaulting mine owners turnup at the door of the Directorate of Mines, as Mr Anil Salgaocar did, to returnRs 30 crores.
It needs to be displayed by immediately carrying out theorder of the Indian Bureau of Mines, to suspend mining operations of the BandDoncol mine of the Damodar Mangalji Company of April 18, 2012. Shockingly, theDirector of Mines, in his note dated May 21, said “The lease holder hasindulged in illegal mining business and trade.” On June 8, the Mines Director,Prasanna Acharya, ordered an inspection of this mine. Over forty days have elapsed since then andneither have operations been suspended, or the mines inspected.
There’s more. eight lakh metric tonnes of low grade ore,mainly from dumps, which is banned, were ready to be shipped on nine vessels inMarch. Industry insiders are aware that the Mines department has absolutely noinfrastructure to check if the ore sought to be exported is a) from dumps thatare banned, b) from a working mining lease or not, and most importantly, c) ifthe source of the ore i.e. the TC number of the mine mentioned in the challanis genuine.
When the Chief Minister says he will check, “all forms ofillegal mining,”he needs to look into the mining interests of every politicianinvolved in the mining business including many ministers of the previousgovernment including the State Congress President Subhash Shirodkar and formerUrban Development minister Joaquim Alemao, whose activities ranged from beingraising contractors (mining on someone else’s lease) to transporters. The coreof illegality in the business lies not in illegal mining leases but in illegaloperations. There are ready instances, as mentioned above, of blatant illegalmining operations, which the Chief Minister has committed to tackle. He shallbe held to account on this.
The previous government, lest we forget, went down becauseof its failure, nay, active connivance, with the architects of illegal miningoperations. Those architects, identified during investigations by the PublicAccounts Committee, the Shah Commission and independent investigations, shouldbe brought to book. The change between the previous and the current regime isbeing witnessed in the comparative quality of governance. But this will beseverely tested when it comes to cracking down on illegal mining activity withthe ruthlessness that is warranted. Out with fly by night traders. Out withillegal extractors, who show extraction from mines that have not beenfunctional to cover up for stolen ore. Out with those who under invoiceexports. Out with those who do not pay royalty and most importantly out withthose in governance who have helped illegal mining activity.
This government does not need to probe more. It needs to acton what has already been probed. Those who exploited the system during theprevious government must realise that bad governance is not permanent. TheCongress government fell, and we say this with responsibility, dueto the singleissue of giving shelter to illegal mining operations. The BJP has to justifythe hope of the people of Goa who brought them to power with a belief that thiswill change.
