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Mining Illegality
- Illegal mining in Goa calls for urgent steps to expose the extent of the violations as well as a stronger law.
- The latest “scam” concerns dozens of illegal iron ore mines in Goa that have successfully evaded the state machinery and exported several million tonnes of the ore without paying royalty.
- As with the Bellary scandal exposed earlier this year in Karnataka, once again we see the hand of the state’s top politicians working closely with those breaking laws to maximise profit.
- Goa’s Chief Minister Digambar Kamat is in the eye of the storm. He was in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) before he switched sides to join the Congress. He has also headed the department of mines for 12 years.
- Unlike Karnataka, where the problem was rooted in one extended family, in Goa the share of the loot has been spread over many individuals.
- For mine owners and those providing ancillary services such as transport, revenues grew hugely with the growing demand for iron ore especially from China in the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
- The loss to the exchequer is estimated to be anywhere between Rs 3,000 crore and Rs 10,000 crore.
- But apart from the revenue loss, Goa’s environment has been irreparably damaged by the extent and the very nature of iron ore mining. The red scars on Goa’s verdant landscape left by the mines cannot be obliterated easily
- Meantime, communities living in the vicinity of these mines pay the price – in their health as the red dust from the open cut mines envelops everything. Waste from the mines – for every tonne of ore that is extracted, there is at least three times as much waste – floods agricultural fields, ruins freshwater wells and destroys rivers.
- How did these mines get the initial clearance to operate? And if they did not, why did these authorities not act earlier? These are only some of the questions, in addition to the loss of revenue, that have to be addressed.
- The amended Mines and Minerals (Regulation and Development) Bill 2011, which has received union cabinet approval and will be placed in Parliament, is an important step towards tighter regulation of the mining sector. The new law, for instance, recognises the rights of communities affected by mining and gives them a share.
- Yet a new law alone will not suffice. It is essential that the full extent of illegality is exposed and punitive measures are taken. Only then can one hope that in future such flagrant violations will not occur.
- For this, the investigations of the nine-member commission headed by the retired Supreme Court judge M B Shah are crucial.
