The order further states that the ministry will not consider any fresh mining proposals from these three districts. The project proponents have been advised not to submit any new mining proposal for environmental clearance. The Supreme Court had halted mining operations due to large-scale ecological damage caused by mining.
Goa mines closed
In Goa, 40 iron ore mines have been issued suspension orders by the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) for not having either forest or wildlife clearances or both.
The list was made available by GSPCB to the counsel of the environment group Goa Foundation which has filed three public interest petitions in the Bombay High Court against illegal mining in Goa. The NGO was told 13 of the 40 mines are operational, and 27 have not been working this year. “They will have to shut down immediately,” Goa Foundation head Claude Alvares said.
Goa’s mines department is under pressure to take action against illegal extraction of ore after the Shah Commission’s visit to Goa.
Though Justice M B Shah has left, Karnataka’s conservator of forests U V Singh, whose report threw the lid off state-mining mafia nexus in his home state, said some members of the team would spend a month in Goa to look into over 360 mining leases and data of extraction and export of ore.
The commission was appointed by the Centre to look into illegalities in the mining of manganese and iron ore.