MoEF cancels mining nod to Goa firm
The ministry of environment & forests (MoEF) have cancelled the environmental clearance (EC) to the Vedanta-owned Sesa Goa Ltd for an iron ore mine located in Pirna in North Goa on grounds of suppression of vital information.
The move was based on the findings of the National Green Tribunal which has accused the firm of concelaing data in its environment impact study (EIA). Also it did not take the consent of the local people there. Vedanta is already in trouble for extracting more iron ore than permissible limits. The mining firm had applied to the MoEF on March 20, 2009 for an EC to extract 0.20 million tonnes per annum in an area of 43 hectares in Pirna and Nadora. Environmental activist Claude Alaveres, who has been on the forefront of this anti-mining crusade, said “It has taken a long time for the MoEF to admit that many of the ECs that have been granted in Goa were based on fudged data and falsification of facts. This happened in other cases also with another mining lease having been cancelled by the National Environmental Appellate Authority.”
Fingers are also being pointed towards Goa chief minister and to A. Raja for giving clearances to 136 mines in Goa during the latter’s tenure as environment minister. Ninety of these mines continue to be operational at present.
Vedanta wanted an EC for Pirna on the grounds that there were no wildlife sanctuaries, national parks, heritage sites, or biosphere reserves within 10 km of the mining area. But when the Expert Appraisal Committee visited the place, it found discrepancies between the claims as the river Chapora flows to the north of the mine. This entire area comprises of dense forests but this was not indicated in the maps submitted to the EC.
Many of the mines granted clearance in Goa did not receive the compulsory wildlife clearance.
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