PANJIM: Tightening the screws on the state government for its seemingly belligerent attitude on mining dumps, the Ministry of Environments and Forests (MoEF) has issued show cause notices to 46 companies for mining from low grade iron ore /reject dumps in the State.

The 46 mining companies have been issued show cause notices for allegedly violating provisions of the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) notification 2006. The notices dated September 9, 2012 and issued under section 5 of Environment Protection Act (EPA) 1986, have to be replied to within 15 days stating why environmental clearances (ECs) granted to them should not be revoked, and direction for their closure not be issued under the Environment Protection Act