The Goa Government today said several mining firms were “not telling the truth” in their environment impact assessment (EIA) reports and an non-Governmental organisation (NGO has been asked to verify the information contained in them.
Govt response
“I agree that there are several mining firms which do not tell the truth about EIA, which they submit to the Government,” the State Environment Minister, Mr Aleixo Sequiera, told a convention here.
Mr Sequiera said that the Centre for Environment Education (CEE), an NGO, has been asked to verify the information given by the mining firms in the EIA.
Complaints
He admitted there were several complaints received by the State Government in this regard and the ground reality was different from what has been shown in the reports submitted by the mining firms.
The Minister said Goa has 105 mining sites of which 80 to 90 are operational.
Noted environmentalist, Mr Madhav Gadgil, who was present at the convention, said the State Government had been executing “non-sustainable and destructive development.”
“The official agencies themselves are colluding for destructive development,” he alleged.
Tribals act
Mr Gadgil, who heads the Ministry of Environment and Forest's panel on Western Ghats, said that Goa has “not enacted the Scheduled Tribe and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers Act.”
‘Cauvrem' tribals' plight
Pointing out to the plight of ‘Cauvrem' tribals, who “were fighting to save their sacred hill from being mined”, Mr Gadgil said the Act would have given them the required protection.
‘Cauvrem' tribals, in South Goa, had stopped operations of five mines last year, which were allegedly violating environmental norms.