Panaji, Oct 13 (IANS) Even as 91 out of the 103 open cast mines in Goa are being probed for illegalities and discrepancies in their operations, a missive from the ministry of environment and forests, curtailing powers of the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB), has put the government here in a tizzy.
An office order signed by Sunita Auluck, a director in the MoEF dated Sep 30 issued to all SPCBs across the country, has now authorised the "monitoring cell in the impact assessment division (in the MoEF) as the nodal point for monitoring and compliance of the stipulated conditions imposed on the industrial units/infrastructural projects including CRZ, while granting EC (environment certificate)".
The order divests powers of the Goa SPCB vested in Section 5 of the Environment Protection Act 1986, which empowers it to act against any immediate existing environmental threat.
The Goa government is not too happy with the change in protocol.
"We have sent the order to the law department for legal opinion. We will be in a position to comment on it only after the law department sends us their interpretation of the order," state Environment Minister Aleixo Sequeira told IANS.
Officials at the Goa SPCB said that curtailing powers bestowed upon the state government and the SPCB could reduce the state government to a mute witness, when faced with any impending environmental threat.
"For example if MV River Princess, the ship which beached at Candolim 10 years ago, cracks up posing environmental damage, the state government will not be able to act immediately. Under the new protocol, the state government would have to intimate the impact assessment division in the MoEF, who will then consider the course of action to be taken," an SPCB official said.
In the last two months, the Goa SPCB has issued show cause notices to 78 open cast iron ore mines, asking the operators to submit their official documents, including environmental clearance for examination.
The state government had also ordered closure of 13 mines for their proximity to wildlife sanctuaries. There are presently 103 operational iron, bauxite and manganese mines in the Goan hinterland, which export nearly 33 million tones of ore annually.