The Goa Mines and Geology Department has ordered the suspension of two iron ore and bauxite mines which found mention for alleged illegality in the controversial Public Accounts Committee (PAC) draft report.
The mines were being managed by Congress leader Dinar Tarcar.
The committee report could not be presented in the Assembly last week amid controversy over its legality, after a majority of the ruling party members had declined to sign it.
Subsequently, the PAC — formerly headed by the Leader of Opposition and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Manohar Parrikar — was reconstituted on Friday by Speaker Pratapsinh Rane.
Director of Mines Arvind Loliyekar confirmed to The Hindu on Sunday that orders were issued to stop work at two mines operated by Mr. Tarcar in south Goa.
One was operated by him through Power of Attorney (PoA) to the family of mine-owner Haider Kasim Khan.
Family dispute
Following a dispute between family members, the department ordered suspension of operations as per a lower court order.
In the second case, the family of Janardan Neogi holding PoA had claimed that ore was extracted in excess of the amount specified in the environmental clearance norm issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forests.
“In both cases, we will conduct a resurvey and verify the complaint of the family members and then decide whether to allow the mine to operate,” said Mr. Loliyekar.
Following the PAC report and the commencement of a probe by the Justice Shah Commission, the department recently issued directives to mines across the State to stop movement of such dumps that are illegally obtained.
The PAC report said Mr. Tarcar's mines had extracted ore in excess of the environmental clearance norm.
Mr. Tarcar had unsuccessfully contested against Mr. Parrikar during the last Assembly election from the Panaji constituency on a Congress ticket.
