An amendment with prospective effect to the Goa, Daman & Diu Mining Leases (Abolition of Mining Concessions and Declaration as Mining Leases) Act, 1987 will ensure smooth resumption of mining in Goa for the next several years, said convenor of Goa Mining People’s Front (GMPF) Puti Gaonkar here on Thursday.
Mr. Gaonkar on Thursday led protests of over two thousand mining dependents, who have been demanding quick resumption of mining activities in the State. The protesters accused the State government of not taking the issue of mining resumption seriously.
Mr. Gaonkar said that the State government should file an affidavit in the apex court seeking an amendment to the Act, to make it apply prospectively. This, he said would automatically extend the period of Goa’s iron ore leases, which have lapsed since 2007, till 2037.
“We also demand that the Assistant Solicitor General Atmaram Nadkarni who represented this case in the Supreme Court in the past should be replaced with a senior counsel, because he wants the mining leases auctioned and not renewed as we are demanding,” Mr. Gaonkar said, after he submitted a memorandum of demands on behalf of the Front to Goa Chief Secretary Parimal Rai.
“Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has already written to the Central government for the same demand we are making now. The Assembly has also passed a unanimous resolution to the same effect,” Mr. Gaonkar said, apprehending that auctioning of the State’s mining resources to new players would uproot existing workforce and take a toll on ancillary businesses owned by locals, who are dependent on mining.
The mining dependents from different sections of the society — from the mining belt and port towns — have been protesting ever since the Supreme Court banned extraction and transportation of iron ore from 88 mining leases from March 31, 2018, quashing their second renewal by the State. This was the second time in less than six years that all mining in the State has come to a standstill.
In February last year, the Supreme Court imposed the ban after it found that the BJP-led coalition government in the State had not followed the due procedure in the second lease renewal, while also ruling that the mining leases had lapsed in 2007.
Unlike in other States, mining leases in Goa were permanent concessions granted by the Portuguese regime for exploration.
The Central Government through the Goa Daman and Diu (Abolition of Concession and Declaration as Mining Leases) Act, 1987, converted the same concessions into mining leases under the Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulation) Act, 1957, making them valid for a fixed tenure of 20 years, which lapsed in 2007.
