Goa continues to export ore to China; NGO complains to PM Modi

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant's travails appear to brook no stopping for now at least.

After Sawant was rebuked by Governor Satya Pal Malik last week for trying to "put words in his mouth" vis a vis media criticism of the government's handling of the pandemic crisis, the state's leading green NGO Goa Foundation has now petitioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's claiming the state government mining policy continued to favour China.

"Normally, all mining activity halts before the monsoon by May 15 every year. Dr Sawant ought to be directed to stop the export of Goa’s ore to China forthwith as it is entirely inappropriate when seen within the circumstances facing the country today," says the letter to the Prime Minister's Office written by the Director of Goa Foundation Claude Alvares on Sunday.

The complaint letter to the PMO comes in times of increased hostilities between India and China over the territorial spat in Leh which has claimed lives of soldiers on both sides.

"The priority of the Sawant government today is to be seen in recent orders of the Director of Mines and Geology, permitting transport and export of iron ore stocks upto July 31, 2020, directly favouring former lease-holders and traders who have spot contracts with China," the letter also states

Mining was banned in Goa for the second time in 2018, after the Supreme Court of India indicted the state government for flaws in the leases renewal procedures of 88 operational mining tracts.

Interestingly, while the amended Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act has made auctioning of major resources mandatory, the letter states that the state government has been dragging its feet vis a vis starting the auctioning process, which would yield the exchequer a much needed financial boost.

"Instead of going in for auctions – the law of the land today – the Goa government has wasted precious time writing to the Union Mines ministry, and to the PMO, asking for a 'legislative cure'," the letter states, adding that the Sawant-led administration has not given a not to prosecute key officials involved in the 2018 mining lease renewal who had been indicted by the Lokayukta in its report.