Bicholim: Shiv Sena State general secretary Milind Gawas has demanded with the State government to declare the exact quantity of existing e-auction iron ore dump in the State on which royalty is paid.
Addressing a press conference at Bicholim, Gawas stated that though the Supreme Court has given permission to transport the e-auction iron ore due to which there is a happy atmosphere in the mining belt. It is necessary that State government should declare exact quantity of iron ore on which royalty is paid, he added.
Gawas said that though Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has declared that the quantity of existing iron ore dump in the State is 9 million tonnes, it is suspicious to have such an amount of iron ore. “I suspect that existing iron ore in the State must be very less than 9 million tonnes and hence there is possibility that mining companies may explore ideas to excavate new iron ore to bring it to the quantity of 9 million tonnes or more,” Gawas told.
“It is therefore necessary to find out exact quantity of existing iron ore in the State and I have made an application to mining department under to Right to Information Act to know about this,” said Gawas.
He also added that as per the Supreme Court verdict, after March 15, 2018 court had directed the mining companies to shift the iron ore and machinery elsewhere. “During that time many mining companies had paid royalty on the ore that did not exist at all. Most of the mining companies had also planned to dig more iron ore taking the advantage of this situation however, their dreams were shattered as Goa Foundation again approached Supreme Court,” added Gawas.
He said that he has made the application to mining department to seek this information under Right to Information (RTI) Act.
Gawas has also requested the State government not to give unnecessary hopes to truck owners as they may spend lakhs of rupees to repair their trucks with a hope that they will get the work. “It is therefore necessary to check what quantity of ore exists in the State so that truck owners can come forward in case they have hopes to earn something rather than facing losses,” told Gawas.