Panaji (Goa) 

Goa Foundation (GF) today petitioned Union Mines Minister Narendra Singh Tomar demanding necessary stringent actions to curb illegal iron ore mining activities in the State.

The foundation has warned to approach court if the Ministry fails to act against illegal mining trade.  

“One of the key directions of the Supreme Court judgment was that strict controls should be imposed to prevent illegal mining. However, we find with amazement that tiny Goa accounts for 25 percent of the cases of illegal mining detected by the Mining Surveillance System (MSS),” GF director Dr Claude Alvares said in his letter.

He pointed out that as per the data furnished by the Ministry, of the total 48 unauthorised mining cases detected across country, 12 pertains to Goa.

“On behalf of the people of Goa, I sincerely hope your government will take necessary steps to halt such illegal mining in the state. We are losing faith in both the sincerity and capacity of your Ministry to stop such illegal mining,” Alvares said.

“If it continues, our organisation will have no alternative but to move the Courts again to bring some sense to this (mining) sector,” he warned.