Unwilling to take any chances over illegal ore trying to pass through the port, the Chairman of the Mormugao Port Trust (MPT), Mr P. Mara Pandiyan, on Wednesday appealed to the iron ore exporters from Goa to scrupulously follow all the regulations so as to ensure that only legally permissible iron ore is brought to MPT for exports.
He held a meeting on Wednesday with the iron ore exporters, led by the Goa Mineral Ore Exporters' Association (GMOEA) and others exporting their ore through MPT in the wake of the latest developments in Karnataka following presentation of the Karnataka Lokpal's report on illegal mining to the Government.
Goa exports nearly 54 million tonnes of iron ore annually including ore of non-Goan origin coming from neighbouring States including Karnataka.
“The exporters attending the meeting unanimously agreed with him and said that none of them indulged in the illegal mining of ore exports,” said a spokesperson of MPT.
NOCs
They pointed out that they produce an NOCs from State's Mining Department about duty having been cleared for every shipment to that effect to the port authority.
The Chairman reiterated that the commitment of the port was to provide necessary infrastructure and productivity levels to facilitate exporters to use MPT facilities and apprised them that the Ministry of Shipping had set a target of 53 million tonnes of cargo for the year 2011-12. Of this approximately 40 mt of iron ore was expected to be handled this fiscal through the MPT.
For green cover
He urged the iron ore exporters to adopt extensive measures to comply with their corporate social responsibility to bring more and more mined areas under green cover/forestation.
He further appealed to them to fix a target to cover the mined area with green cover so that Goa should look always “ever green”.
The Chairman's observations come in the wake of environmental agitations that have been taking place in mining belts of the State against pollution and degradation of environment and agriculture.
The meeting was attended by ore exporters including the President of GMOEA and Managing Director of V. M. Salgaocar & Co Pvt Ltd, Mr Shivanand V. Salgaocar; the Director of Sesa Goa Ltd, Mr A.K. Rai, Chairman of NRB Group Narayan Bandekar, and representatives of Chowgule & Co Pvt Ltd, Fomento, Timblo Pvt Ltd, etc.
The exporters also reassured the port of their commitment and appreciated the efforts made by the port administration to resolve their operational issues stating that it would provide further impetus to their iron ore exports.