In light of the Goa government’s plan to re-start mining operations after a ban of more than two years, CM Laxmikant Parsekar said Saturday that despite the crash in global commodity prices the state would be content even if 65 per cent of mining operations began. “We have learnt the lessons of adverse impacts of sporadic mining on the environment, roads, health and other sectors including tourism which is Goa’s another important asset. We are content even if 65 per cent of the mining operation resumes,” he told The Sunday Express. [related-post] The Supreme Court, which partially lifted the ban in 2014, has put a cap of 20 million tonnes of output which has to be adhered to by miners who have obtained licences and the state government. Parsekar said the government’s decision to restart iron ore mining was the only way forward in the interest of thousands of unemployed workers and companies whose earnings are linked to the mining industry. “The Supreme Court order made it very clear that either we could auction or try to renew mining; naturally our first choice was to bring normalcy in a terminally dead sector, so we decided to revive it by creating job opportunities in mines and allied services that lay defunct in our quarrys since the earlier ban by the apex court in 2012,” he said. Parsekar also dismissed the contention of the mining companies that higher operational costs and lower profit margin were weighing them down as “mere excuses”. “We want the mining companies to realise that state government is taking a positive step in the long-term interest,” the CM said.
