Union Minister for Environ-ment and Forests Prakash Javadekar on Saturday assured that he would do all he could to ensure a speedy resumption of mining in the State.
Javadekar said that the decision was likely on the Kasturirangan committee report on the Western Ghats on June 4 at a meeting where representatives of the affected States would be participating.“My Ministry will work towards ensuring that legal mining is resumed in Goa as soon as possible,” Javadekar said.
While the Supreme Court has lifted the nearly two-year old mining ban in Goa, mining is unlikely to start in the immediate future. Reasons range from falling international prices, rusted machinery, as well as the need to apply for permissions afresh including lease, environmental clearances and other permissions from local authorities.
Javadekar, who is in the State to attend a meeting of the Press Council of India, also said that his Ministry will decide on the Kasturirangan notification issued by the previous Government, which, much to the delight of environmentalists has disallowed mining among a host of activities in the ecologically sensitive Western Ghats.
The State Government has, however, been opposed to the notification with Chief Minister saying that it keeps large swatches of the the State outside the purview of ‘development’, a word which greens read as ‘mining’.K Kasturirangan had been roped in by the MoEF to head a 10-member HlWG, to advise the Central Government on the recommendations made by the Madhav Gadgil-led experts panel on how to conserve the Western Ghats.
The Western Ghats is a UNESCO-recognised natural heritage site comprising of a contiguous forested mountain range, which stretches from Kerala to southern Gujarat and is among the top 12 biodiversity hotspot regions of the world. The report has faced opposition in several States in the Western Ghats belt including Kerala and Goa.