Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar today alleged that officials of Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) took bribes from the state's mine-owners before Jairam Ramesh took over the ministry.
Talking to reporters here, Parrikar said bribery in theissuance of environmental clearances for mines was rampant in the past."Look at the Ministers who were holding the portfolio earlier (beforeRamesh)," he said, adding that he was not showing fingers either at A Rajaor T R Balu.
"There are many officials from MoEF who were involved...They gave ECs without considering the basic requirements.
All these officials would face probe," he said. In aletter to the current Union Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan last month,Parrikar had made a similar allegation.
At present, the clearances from MoEF allow fresh extractionof 47 million metric tonnes of ore yearly in Goa.
The Chief Minister also said his government's decision tocap the yearly extraction of ore at 45 MMT had factored in the transportationlimitations of roads and barges.
43 MMT of ore was extracted in Goa last fiscal, which isexpected to come down to less than 30 MMT in 2012-13.
