The Central Empowered Committee (CEC) on Wednesday in its preliminary arguments told the Supreme Court that no mining operations can resume in Goa unless irregularities are rectified.
Amicus curie ADN Rao told a bench headed by Justice AK Patnaik that mining companies in Goa have violated rules and regulations in their operations and extraction of ores and they should not be permitted till an environmental impact assessment is done.
The apex court-appointed Committee in its report had recommended that resumption of mining operations, halted by the apex court on October 5 last year, may be not be permitted till the state government notified rules to regulate storage, transportation and shipment of the mineral ore. “The mining companies should get environmental clearance certificates afresh,” Rao said.
CEC in its report stated that mining operations be allowed only after environmental impact assessment is done and a reclamation and rehabilitation (R&R) plan is prepared.
The Justice MB Shah commission report estimated a loss of R35,000 crore to the exchequer due to illegal mining in the last 12 years. The judicial commission report had indicted almost all the miners.
Earlier, during the day, counsel Prashant Bhushan, appearing for Goa Foundation, an environmental action group, concluded his arguments by saying that mining leases, which have expired in 2007, should be auctioned rather than renewed after putting in place the stringent regulatory mechanism to curb illegal mining.