PANJIM: The Goa government after partially objecting to Prof Madhav Gadgil committee report on the Western Ghats, Thursday claimed it will have no money in its treasury to pay salaries if all recommendations in the report are accepted.

“I was saying the other day that if we had to accept all the recommendations of Prof Gadgil committee report, then we will have no money to pay for salaries, even the salaries of Judges,” Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar told the House on the concluding day of the Budget Session of the State Legislative Assembly Thursday.

PANJIM: The Goa Legislative Assembly unanimously passed a resolution on Thursday, with both Ruling and Opposition MLAs, unitedly urging the Central government to step in for providing financial relief for the mining dependent people of Goa and resume legal mining.

The resolution, which was moved by Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar urged the Centre to provide a financial package for rehabilitation of the people affected due to suspension of mining activities since September 2012. The resolution also urged the Centre to start legal mining while assuring that each mine will be ‘perfectly checked’ before allowing it to start.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed a Bombay High Court order directing Goa government to file FIRs against all miners named in the Justice M B Shah Commission report for alleged violation of lease conditions.

Without the stay, the state would have been forced to take action against top politicians such as Pratapsing Rane, Digambar Kamat and Ravi Naik’s son Roy besides several top miners and officials in the state.

The Supreme Court has stayed the March 22 order of Bombay High Court at Goa, directing the Goa Government to file an FIR (first information report) with police against 151 people, including former chief ministers and ministers, mine owners and officials in connection with the alleged illegal mining in the state.

The Three-Judge Bench of Chief Justice Altamas Kabir, Justices Anil Dave and Vikramjit Sen, passed the order which had challenged the High Court's direction on the complaint of social activist Kashinath Shetye.

PANJIM: The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests told the Supreme Court that “it had no choice” but to consider the area within 10 km of all national parks and wildlife sanctuaries in Goa, as ecologically sensitive zones, thus bringing a majority of mining leases in the State within the zone.

In an affidavit filed in the SC, the MoEF argues that they have been forced by the non-cooperative attitude of the State government despite it pursuing the matter, and wants the Apex court to ask the government to comply.

The Goa government will inform the Centre of its stand on the critical matter of buffer zones of wildlife sanctuaries and parks by Monday, a crucial step that will allow the Ministry of Environment

PANJIM: At least 99 villages including around 90 in the heart of the State’s mining belts of Sattari and Sanguem have been declared ecologically sensitive areas under the Environment Protection Act, 1976, by the Kasturirangan report, amidst accusations that it had sought to dilute the Gadgil panel report.

The high-powered committee was formed by the Centre to study and recommend ways to implement the Madhav Ghadgil report on UNESCO featured biodiversity hotspot, the Western Ghats.

Miners propose to set up medical college, university in mining areas

Justice M B Shah Commission, engaged in enquiry into illegal mining in Odisha and other states, completed its hearing on Sunday. It is likely to submit final report on Odisha in May-June period before the end of its term in July this year.
On the last day of hearing, the Commission heard the submission made by the miners to develop the mineral bearing areas of the state by contributing to build necessary infrastructure such as roads, public water purification system, medical colleges and university.

New Delhi: Rejection of big-ticket mining proposals such as Vedanta has been a rare exception in the UPA’s nine-year reign. The UPA has given clearance to cut a whopping six lakh hectares of forests — of these more than 2.5 lakh hectares were for mining — since it came to power in mid-2004.

The data, accessed by TOI from the environment ministry, shows that the inprinciple and final clearances add up to the combined area of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Bangalore, or roughly the equivalent of three large tiger reserves.

About 50 mines, out of 186 iron and manganese ore mines in the state, are now operating with many miners halting their operation due to lack of statutory clearances

The Supreme Court judgment for cancellation of 49 iron ore leases in Karnataka on charges of rule violations may not have any bearing on fate of Odisha mines, also in dock for several rule violation, as the nature of crimes are different, said a state government official.