MINING IN GOA - DARK AND CLAUSTROPHOBIC

By Ruma Dubey

Like the darkness and claustrophobic feeling which smothers you as you go deeper into a mine, the mining industry in India, especially Goa, is in complete darkness. Roads which used to be choc-a-bloc with trucks plying to and fro from the mines to the ports are now empty. The trucks lay idle wearing a forlorn look, gathering dust and grime. And major sections of the population in Goa, who are directly dependent on mining are staring hard at a desolate future.

The Supreme Court on Friday, recommended scrapping 42 iron ore mining leases in Goa state until mining companies submit plans to deal with the environmental impact and the legal details involved.  Sesa Goa was amongst the biggest losers on the BSE as this is a big blow for the company. A brokerage house has stated in its research report that post this SC recommendation, the company could lose upto 9% contribution to fair value due to likely production cap and delay in restart of mining. Post this, the prospect of Goa getting back to mining could become even more laborious and might not resume in the immediate future.

The typical reaction of Govt – complete clampdown when it does not know how to go about correcting the situation. Like you to the airport to drop off someone; because they cannot manage security, relatives are left hanging outside which is not seen in any airport around the world. Here too, rampant corruption has eaten away the very bowels of Mother Earth but can a complete ban or maintaining a status quo for so long help rectify the problem?

A quick look at first what was the problem which has caused this clampdown:

• Between 2006-07 and 2010-11, 195 million tonnes (mt) of iron ore from Goa was actually exported as against ‘registered’ exports of 155 mt. Excess 40 mt was illegally mined iron ore.
• Large numbers of mining leases operated by persons other than the actual lessees, and that too with the ‘unofficial acknowledgement’ from the state Govt.
• 19 mines were within national parks and wildlife sanctuary areas, while 23 were within a distance of upto 1 km from the boundaries of nearby National Parks / Sanctuaries. How did they ever get environmental clearances?
• Increased production without a proper justification and purely on commercial grounds, ignoring the impact of mining on protected areas, environment and eco-system.
• Complete absence of an effective system of checks and balances regarding the actual quantities of mineral produced and transported  from the mining leases and verification of the mineral during transit
• Collusion between politically connected mine-lords and corrupt politicians/officials
• Illegal mining activities in Goa have led to a loss of Rs35,000 crore to the exchequer in the last 12 years.
• M B Shah Commission report indicts former chief minister Digambar Kamat, who was minister for mines for over a decade from 2000 to 2012.
• The Report has also indicted Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM), the union ministry for environment and forests (MoEF), state directorate of mines, the state forest department as well as the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) for the illegal mining.

Now this is a replica of the situation in Karnataka and Orissa but at least in these states, there was some system on verifying production and granting permission for transport of minerals. In Goa, it was a ‘free for all’ and the State comes top notch on the scale of corruption in mining.  There has been a complete ban on mining in Goa since Sept, the main season when mining resumes after the shut down for monsoon.

Like the Govt does for all problems, here too, it has appointed a commission - Justice M B Shah Commission and it has done a thorough study of all mining activities in the country and has given recommendations for solving this deadlock. The Justice M B Shah Commission report was tabled in the Parliament in September. And in very clear terms, the Commission has mentioned that  it holds the state government and central government agencies as parties to the scam along with powerful mining operators in Goa, who have plundered natural resource and facilitated an "unrestricted, unchecked and unregulated export of iron ore to China", which made the exporters of ore "richer and richer". There are the ‘mining families’ of Goa – Timblo, Salgaonkar, Sesa, Chowgules, etc; concentration of mining in the hands of just a handful of families is dangerous to say the least. So while a few rich were becoming richer, those close to the land, the tribals and villagers are living in squalor and poverty. Creating a handful of billionaires while the majority of population suffers?  

So is there no solution at all? Well, there are problems precisely because there are solutions. And here the MB Shah Commission has made recommendations:

• Leases be granted through public auction to reduce corruption and bring in transparency.
• Deterrent punishment by filing criminal cases against the lessees for criminal misconduct.
• Action against the then Director of Mines and Geology and subordinate officers for their “misconduct and dereliction of duties.”
• Have an effective system of tracking every tonne of iron ore mined
• To keep a track on the trucks, levy a cess at the point of processing or the port from which the ore is exported.

There is a solution but is there a political will to implement these? While there is no guarantee that there will be no corruption even when such checks are in place, at least it won’t be so rampant. Goa is not just about a good time, beaches and sun. Mining is integral and the people of Goa need to become a part of this too and not just a few already rich billionaires.