Goa mining scam lands state Govt in trouble

After Bellary, now it is Goa where Rs 8000-crore iron-ore mining scam has landed the state government in trouble.

Environmentalists and the Opposition have alleged that Chief Minister Digambar Kamat, also in-charge of the state mining ministry, colluded with the illegal mining firms.

They said that Kamat turned a blind eye to virtual iron ore loot in the state running into a whopping Rs 8,000 crore.

“It is exactly similar to Bellary's situation. The Chief Minster is involved as he is the minister of mines also for last 11 years. The friends of the CM are involved because it is only happening on friendship bases and the forest department is involved, department of mines is involved,” said Claud Alvares, an activist.

Here are some of the glaring violations:

– Environmental clearance limit for the Vedanta-owned Sesa Goa Ltd's three mines was two lakh tonnes annually. However, in 2006, it extracted 8 lakh tonnes.

Similarly, VM Salgaocar & Brothers Pvt Ltd was permitted to extract 16.92 lakh tonnes from its four mines. But since 2006, the company extracted almost 27 lakh tonnes.

– Environmental clearance limit for VM Salgaocar & Brothers Pvt Ltd's four mines was 16.92 lakh tonnes annually, but since 2006, it extracted 26.92 lakh tonnes.

Another company, VS Dempo, had permission to extract 11 lakh tonnes from its three mines, but it extracted over 20 lakh tonnes in 2008.

The list goes on as 48 of the 92 mining companies have flouted norms and over 90 lakh tonnes worth several hundred crore has been illegally mined in the last four years alone.

“The situation in Goa is not as bad as Karnataka and Andhra,” said Goa Congress chief Subhash Shirodkar.

In fact, the Goa Port, which is the country's largest exporter port of iron ore, alerted the government of illegal export of at least five million tonnes from Panaji.

The Mineral Ore Exporters Association also claimed that most of the exporters were not even registered, but the government did nothing.

With the stink of the multi-thousand crore scam spreading fast and a scathing Public Accounts Committee report likely to be tabled in the Goa Assembly in early October, the state Chief Minister finds himself on a minefield of allegations, quite literally.