Goa govt appeals to SC to lift mining ban

Goa government also said that the mining ban has left over 1 lakh people jobless.

Emphasising that the purported illegal mining in Goa was carried out during the previous Congress-led regime,the Goa government Tuesday urged the Supreme Court to lift the ban in view of the resolve of the Manohar Parrikar-led government to prevent and stop all such illegal activities.

Stoppage of mining activities in Goa is a drastic order as the so called illegal mining was going on during the regime of the previous government i.e. the coalition government headed by the Congress from 2006-12,which had two different chief ministers, maintained the incumbent BJP government in its affidavit.

The government informed the green bench led by Justice A K Patnaik that after coming to power in March last year,the government was taking every step in accordance with law to curb illegal mining and had also come up with the first ever-comprehensive mining policy for Goa.

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It also refuted a statement by the court-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC) that the position of illegal mining in Goa was worse than Karnataka.

Apprising the court that the current government had stopped illegal mining in the state at the cost of incurring wrath from the mining lobbies,the affidavit said that the Bench need not entertain the PIL by NGO Goa Foundation and leave it to the state to ensure lawful mining.

Interestingly,the state government agreed the court monitoring its control and regulations but resisted involvement of the CEC in the matter.

Goa government also said that the mining ban has left over 1 lakh people jobless.

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