In what may provide relief to mine owners, the Goa Government today said encroachment outside the mining leases is just 9.2 hectares and not a whopping 578 hectares, as pointed out by the Justice M. B. Shah Commission.
The State mines and geology department has resurveyed the encroachment outside mining leases and concluded that it is 9.286 hectares, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar told the State Legislative Assembly.
The Justice Shah Commission had surveyed the mining leases with hand-held Global Positioning Survey (GPS) device which has errors, he said.
The Commission has put the loss on account of encroachment outside mining leases at Rs 35,000 crore going by the figure that encroachment is over 578 hectares, he said.
The State Government will move to recover the money from those involved in illegal mining, Parrikar assured.
He said the Justice Shah Commission’s report is an interim document and has not been presented to the Central Cabinet.
He alleged that the report was sent directly to the Parliament to ensure that the revenue earned from mining by the State Government is stopped.
Iron ore extraction in the State was put on hold last year in the wake of an order of the Supreme Court, which is investigating the illegal mining through a Central Empowered Committee.