PANAJI
In a bid to identify the iron ore dumped locations, topography of mines, water bodies in and around leases, transportation routes and village boundaries, the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) has proposed to undertake drone surveys of the mining leases.
The survey, which is still in the draft stage, will cover all the mining leases, spread across iron ore rich talukas in North and South Goa. The GSPCB has moved a financial proposal before the District Mineral Foundation (DMF) seeking funds of around Rs 95 lakh for the project. The data will be processed into digital elevation models, contour maps, 3D point clouds and orthomosaic images using the photogrammetry software.
According to the pollution authority, the survey will help in identifying the locations for setting up air and water stations for monitoring of Ambient Air Quality and Water quality of the mining affected areas.
Speaking to The Goan, GSPCB chairman Mahesh Patil said that the survey will basically help us to understand the topography, leases, water bodies, sewage discharge points, transport routes and community location of each mining lease or mineral blocks.
“The proposal is still in the pipeline. The idea is to get a clear picture as to where and what all we need to monitor in the mining areas,” he said.
Patil said that with the State government now proposing to e-auction the dumps, it is very important from the pollution point of view to know where these dumps are lying and what could be its transportation route.
Since March 2018, there has been a ban on iron ore mining activities in the State. However, transportation of e-auctioned ore, as directed by the Supreme Court, is currently ongoing.
Last year the government e-auctioned a total of nine mineral blocks to resume fresh iron ore extraction. The government has also notified Dump handling policy 2023 to handle around 700 million tons of dumps through e-auction mode.
Apart from this, the Board has also proposed to install Ambient Air and Water Quality Monitoring Stations in the mining areas of North and South.
Board to conduct aerial survey of North coastline for database of structures
PANAJI: The Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) has initiated a process to conduct an aerial survey of the North Goa coastal belt to map and prepare a database of the structures that have come up along the 80kms long coastline. The survey area will span 500 metres seawards from the coastline and extend up to 1.5 kms inland along the mainland.
The Board has already invited bids to undertake the drone survey, which will also help the Board to ascertain the violations pertaining to Consent to Operate and Establish under Air and Water Act by the structures or establishments.
GSPCB Chairman Mahesh Patil said that the objective of the aerial survey is to demarcate hotels, residential buildings, houses, beach shacks, recreation parks, open plots and other tourism recreation-related activities that have come up over the years along the north coastal belt.
“There are so many structures which are not shown on the survey maps, which were prepared almost ten to 15 years back. The survey will help us with the new database and also to update these survey plans for our records,” he said.
The Chairman said that the exercise will also help the Board to locate and mark the sources and levels of pollution in drainages, sewage channels, creeks and outfalls that discharge effluents into the sea, which is otherwise difficult to ascertain.
“The survey will also help us identify the new structures that are operating without consent to operate,” he added.
