The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it does not want to stop mining completely, but asked the Goa government to sort out the menace of illegal mining by implementing mining policies properly.
A special green bench headed by Justice AK Patnaik said that ?mining can be an important part of development, but can also become a source of degradation unless addressed properly. Environment management is required.?
?This country is made for farmers, agriculturists, industrialists, miners and others, but the country cannot be allowed to be exploited like this. Even if we have to develop the economy, it should subserve the common good… We expect the state to think of the poorest and the entire community. The Supreme Court’s job is just to uphold the Constitution and it can only set limits,? Justice Patnaik said, while asking the government to have a regulator in place.
The Goa government in its concluding arguments informed the court that its draft rules on the lines of the 2012 Orissa rules are ready and it is serious about their implementation. Senior counsel Arvind Dattar said the state government would not mind monitoring by either the court or the lokayukta, and can submit its status report every four months to apprise the court of the steps being taken.
The ministry of environment and forests, represented by Solicitor General Mohan Parasaran, also conceded before the Supreme Court that most of the environment clearance certificates (ECCs) granted to Goa mining firms during 2005-2010 were ?indefensible? and action would be taken against private expert bodies that had conducted the environmental impact assessment (EIA) on miners’ pleas for ECCs.
Detailing the procedure of grant of ECCs, Parasaran said first the applications are screened and then the Expert Appraisal Committee (EIA) examines the pleas and related documents before giving reasoned categorical recommendations for either grant or denial of ECCs to mining firms.
MoEF will resume its arguments on Thursday and inform the apex court on the action taken.
