Says State has no elephant population

PANJIM: As the Union Government is bracing up for three-day synchronized National Elephant Census in six States including Goa, the Forest Department has said that ‘State has no elephant population and the jumbos who come down here usually migrate from the neighbouring States.’ According to a directive issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), the six-State Census would begin from May 22 and will be later conducted throughout the country, the MoEF notification reads.

Leases to be cancelled if firms fail to adhere to revised norms

PANJIM: The high level mining monitoring committee appointed by the State will start its visit to all 90-odd mines, ahead of the monsoons to ensure that the mining sites are not disaster prone. The mining leases will be cancelled if companies fail to adhere to the revised safety norms, which make it mandatory for mining firms to get the surface rights of the area around their mines, which is likely to be affected with mining activity.

PANJIM: Chief minister Manohar Parrikar’s ambitious plan of cleaning Goa’s roads of plastic litter and debris from May 20, is likely to be deferred as government agencies are still working out the modalities of what appears to be a mammoth task.

The State Public Works Department Principal Chief Engineer J S Rego said that the PWD has begun the process for identifying dumping grounds for debris and would be working closely with municipal bodies and village panchayats regarding waste collection in their respective areas.

PANJIM: The sword hangs over 44 mines as the clock ticks on the report on buffer zone for wildlife sanctuaries and national park which is due to be submitted on May 31. Indications are that the government appointed committees, are likely to propose three to five kilometers as buffer zone for the sanctuaries.

Senior forest department official said that the committees, which were due to submit their report on May 12, have now sought extension till May 31.The department is expecting the report to be submitted before this deadline, the implementation, of which will be done from next mining season, beginning October.

PANJIM: The minor mineral extractors in the state will now have to seek permission from union Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) before applying for the licence with the state Mines and Geology department, according to an order issued the Mines department on Thursday following Supreme Court directives.

The directives stated that the leases of minor mineral including their renewal for an area of less than five hectares be granted by the States/Union Territories only after getting environmental clearance from the MoEF. The order was passed on February 27, in a petition filed by one Deepak Kumar and other v/s state of Haryana.

Minimum size of mine lease should be 5 ha. Minimum period of mine lease should be 5 years.Mine plans should be made mandatory

Separate corpus for reclamation and rehabilitation of mined out areas. For river bed mining, leases should be granted stretch wise, depth may be restricted to 3m/water level, whichever is less, and safety zones should be worked out.

PANJIM: The mining companies operating the leases in wildlife sanctuaries in the past will have to pay for restoration of the areas affected with the extraction and dumping of the ore.

Following a high court directive, the state forest department has decided to rigorously follow up the matter with the mining companies asking them to pay the cost of restoration.

PANJIM: The Manohar Parrikar-led government’s decision to hike power tariff has not gone well with the industries in the state. The apex trade body, Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) has claimed that the hike will affect as many as 140 industries, mostly from steel and pharma sector, largely dependent on electricity as one of their raw material.

The industries are all set for a public hearing on May 23, wherein Central government’s Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission will be submitted a memorandum opposing the hike. The commission will be holding a public hearing to seek public suggestions before imposing the hike.

PANJIM: Goa State Pollution Control Board on Tuesday decided to re-inspect the mining project of Pandurang Timblo Industries in Shigao after its mines manager made a statement on Tuesday before the former informing that the company had stopped mining operations recently.

GSPCB had issued a show-cause notice to the company after villagers had complained mining operation was polluting a nullah which leads to the Dudhsagar waterfalls.

PANJIM: The new mining policy would spell out guidelines that will make granting of mining concessions more transparent in the state, according to a statement by Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, Friday.

Parrikar said that government will formulate a mining policy by May-end or June, which will outline transparent procedures that government would adopt while allotting mining leases, in future.