Goa mines director sacked over illegal mining

Parrikar govt promises stringent action against shady ore traders

The Goa government on Monday suspended director of mines Arvind Lolienkar and promised to come down heavily on shady iron ore traders.

A close aide of former chief minister Digambar Kamat, Lolienkar will face an internal enquiry. 

A number of other officials in the department are also being eased out.

 

“There was no efficient delivery and a complete lack of response and action from the mines department even as complaints of mining irregularities continued to pour in,” Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar told the media. Additional Collector Prasanna Acharya has been deputed to replace Lolienkar.

Parrikar said a crackdown to weed out shady mineral traders will be launched. The mines department has been directed to issue show cause notices to all 433 ore traders registered with the government. They will have to respond within eight days to prove their bonafides.

Only iron ore traders who have a tie-up with mining companies would be allowed to operate in the state in the future, Parrikar said. 

During the Shah Commission probe into illegal mining in Goa, the police had pinned down 110 ore traders as fly-by-night operators who had provided fictitious addresses. Most of them had picked ore from mining dumps and illegal mines.