the goan I network
PANAJI
Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has called for a crucial meeting of all MLAs especially those representing the mining belt areas for a meeting that is expected to thrash out a way forward on the mining imbroglio.
The meeting will also be attended by the State’s Advocate General Dattaprasad Lawande, and the Mining Director of Goa Prasanna Acharya and will be held on Thursday at noon.
“We will discuss whether to make a mining corporation or auction the leases in the long run,” Pauskar who was speaking on the sidelines of the GSIDC function said.
“According to the Mining Concession Abolition Act of 1987, mining leases should expire in 2037, since they were given out for a period of 50 years. We will see whether we can get mining to continue till that time if it can be done quickly,” he said. “We will ask the Supreme Court for the same.”
Under the Indian MMDR Act, the mining leases when granted are valid for 50 years. The Government of India had in 1987 enacted the Goa Abolition of Mining Concessions Act which converted Portuguese mining concessions into mining leases with retrospective effect from 1961, meaning that they were valid for 50 years from the time of Liberation in 1961, and the mining concessions that were granted by the pre-liberation Portuguese Government to Goans were abolished by the Act of 1987.
Mining in the state is currently at a standstill since February 7, 2018 because of an order passed by the SC. Though various delegations have been sent to Delhi in May and June to sort out the issue with the Central Government, things were not making headway due to the absence of CM Parrikar. Various solutions to the mining issue were proposed by different MLAs, but a final, clear solution will be expected after Thursday’s meeting.
The GMPF continues to protest at various locations demanding the restart of mining as quickly as possible.
Speaking at his first press conference, after returning from the US, Parrikar said that the mining issue was ‘complicated’ and hence took time to resolve.
The Congress has however accused the government of having no solution to offer.
Girish Chodankar has also asked that CM should make his mind clear whether he is interested in finding a solution for the mining.
“Since February 7, 2018 when Supreme Court quashed the 88 mining leases till now, no concrete steps have been taken to ensure that the sustainable mining is resumed in the State,” Chodankar said.
“There has been no consensus on the way the forward. Goa Forward Party chief Vijai Sardesai speaks of an ordinance, Sudin Dhavalikar of MGP is speaking of filing review petition and BJP’s Nilesh Cabral wants State to file an intervention petition,” Chodankar said.
“It is crystal clear that Goa government has not taken any decision on the issue. The hopes were high when Parrikar returned from the USA but he too joined the bandwagon by claiming that the issue is a complicated one due to the involvement of the SC,” he added.
“This means BJP led government has resigned to the fate that the mining will not resume in the State. If that is the case, then government should make it clear and let people know that they are unable to find the solution. They cannot keep people groping in the dark,” he added.
“Parrikar’s talks on mining were hollow and directionless. The chief minister showed haste in meeting his party workers after coming to Goa last week but has no time to meet mining dependents or their leaders,” he said.
“In the entire melee, the people dependent on this industry are the worst sufferers,” he lamented.
