New Delhi, Sep 18 (TNN): The Supreme Court on Tuesday wondered how the ministry of environment and forests could grant environment clearance to so many iron ore mines in a small state like Goa, many of which were near forests. The court had stayed mining activities in the state in October last year.

Commencing final hearing on petitions alleging rampant illegal mining, a bench of Justices A K Patnaik, S S Nijjar and F M I Kalifulla was struck by the many peculiar illegalities of the case, unearthed by a scathing report of the apex court's environment panel -Central Empowered Committee.

In its report last year, the CEC had said rampant illegal iron ore mining in Goa had devastated the state on a much larger scale than Karnataka, and the Union environment ministry had granted green clearances to 162 mines near national parks and sanctuaries in breach of Supreme Court orders.

The bench said it would like to hear solicitor general Mohan Parasaran on how so many green clearances could be given by the ministry without finding out the location of the mines.

Parasaran was unavailable as he was assisting the attorney general in another court which was hearing PILs seeking cancellation of coal block allocations.

Appearing for petitioner 'Goa Foundation', advocate Prashant Bhushan said there was very little in the operation of iron ore mines in Goa which could be termed legal.

From P1

From mining licences to extraction of iron ore, transportation and surreptitious export, everything was in brazen violation of laws causing huge environmental damage.

The CEC had said illegal mining was carried out allegedly with "tacit" approval of the previous Digambar Kamat government. "A very large number of mining leases were being operated by persons other than the lessees and in flagrant violation of the provisions of mining law and in all probability with the tacit approval of the state government," it had said.

So much so that the owner of a mine lease, who had probably migrated to Pakistan during partition, was signing power of attorney from Karachi to operate the mining lease in Goa, the panel had said, highlighting the absence of checks on mining activities that resulted in massive illegal extraction of iron ore.

The bench also asked whether the state machinery was sleeping and whether there was any check on the activities of mine lease holders. Bhushan said the administration was clearly hand-in-glove with mine lease holders to perpetuate illegal mining for years.

The CEC had reported that Goa experienced plenty of rainfall which washed the sediments of iron ore mining to the rivers resulting in choking and irreversible damage to the sensitive Zuari and Mandovi estuaries complex, said to be the largest in the country.

The CEC had reported that during 2006-2011, as much as 39.56 million tonnes of illegal iron ore was exported from the state. "The bulk of the mining leases are in the forests or natural vegetation and consequently mining has taken a heavy toll of Goa's natural vegetation and wildlife," it had said.