the goan I network
PANAJI
The delegation led by AAP Convenor Elvis Gomes and activist Claude Alvares explained to the GSPCB how rampant pollution was affecting villagers and Supreme Court norms were brazenly being violated in the village.
“Since the last few days these mining companies are excavating and transporting iron ore many times the allowed limits and are thus causing mayhem and havoc in the village. Everyday about 1,200 trucks are plying through the village making about 14 trips each amounting to over 16,000 trips. A truck passes through the village every three seconds or less amounting to 25-30 trucks every minute,” the AAP said in their representation to the GSPC Board.
They pointed out that the Ministry of Environment and Forests through an office memorandum had banned the transportation of minerals through a village and had directed that bypasses need to be constructed so that the impact of sound, dust and accidents could be mitigated.
They said that the Supreme Court directions that the excavation should be done under strict monitoring by the
State pollution control board was being violated, even as they maintained that GSPCB failed to monitor the levels of pollution in the village.
They have demanded that all mining in Sonshi
be stopped until the
conditions imposed by the Supreme Court and the MoEF are followed.
