PANJIM: Curtorim legislator Reginaldo Lourenco demanded a white paper on the issue of illegal mining in the state and from the functioning of the mining department.

Speaking during his discussion on the budget, Reginaldo chided the chief minister for saying that there was no illegal mining in the state. “Illegal mining was one of the main election issues. I can show you the copy of the BJP election manifesto, in which it is said that illegal mining will be one of the issues. But today the chief minister has said there is no illegal mining,”

The fate of the four mining companies which have applied for ore transportation will be decided on Saturday.

District Collector N D Agrawal has fixed a hearing on the sensitive question of ore transportation on Saturday, which would finally seal the fate of the parties to the issue. Agrawal told Herald on Wednesday that while his office is in receipt of applications from four mining companies to resume ore transportation in the talukas of Quepem, Sanguem and Dharbandora, applications have also come in from NGOs expressing their reservations on mining transportation.

In order to halt the Goa Government’s move to allow handling of mining rejects, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) has said that the environmental clearance (EC) is mandatory befor

PANJIM: In an official admission of the gradual devastation of the Goa coastline, the Water Resources Department in its Performance Budget presented before the Goa legislative assembly has admitted that 25 per cent of state’s shoreline is affected with erosion caused by the sea.

The document tabled on the floor of the House Tuesday has mentioned that 25.02 km shoreline is affected with sea erosion.

MARGAO: Shack Owners Welfare Society has slammed the reported decision of the Goa State Pollution Control Board that shacks should not be allowed on the beaches unless there’s a solution to the garbage problem.

Reacting to media reports, Society President Cruz Cardozo questioned the rationale behind the GSPCB decision, demanding to know whether the Pollution Board would order closure of all hotels along the coast pending a solution to the garbage issue.

The Goa government on Monday admitted to "illegal extraction of ore" in the state but maintained that there is no illegal mining.

"Mines operating in Goa are working legally but there are irregularities on those leases. The mining leases are legal but at times the extraction of ore is done illegally beyond permissible limits," Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar told the legislative assembly in response to a query.

PANJIM: The number of HIV cases registered between 2009 and 2011 in Goa are reported to be 2445 according to statistics furnished by Health minister Laxmikant Parsekar while replying to queries from Porvorim MLA Rohan Khaunte, at the Goa Assembly’s monsoon session.

In 2009, 959 HIV cases were registered, whereas in 2010 and 2011 there was a declining trend in HIV registered cases from 821 to 665 cases. As far as the number of Goan affected by HIV are concerned, the figure was pegged at 1939 between 2009 and 2011.

PANJIM: Even as forest department is bracing up to clear a backlog of afforesting 2300 hectares of degraded land pending since 2004 under Compensatory Afforestration Fund Management Authority (CAMPA), the non availability of degraded land has created impediment for the officials.

Forest department officials said that the state has good forest cover making it difficult to get the degraded woods, which are essential for afforestration under CAMPA. Union government’s ambitious scheme seems to have been jinxed right from its announcement in the state. The Centre had held back the amount since 2004 till 2009-10 due the petition pending in the Supreme Court.

MARGAO: Just 20 days to go for the controversial land acquisition proceedings to finally lapse, land acquisition officials are in a quandary whether to go ahead or allow the acquisition of land admeasuring 30,000 sqare meters for expansion of the Cutbona fishing jetty to lapse.

Following outcry by Velim villagers over the acquisition of land for a fish meal plant cum jetty expansion, the government had on September 1, 2011 ordered to keep the land acquisition proceedings in abeyance.

A committee of experts constituted by the Goa Government has recommended a cap on extraction of iron ore in the coastal state to 20-25 million tonnes (mt), which is almost half the existing exports

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