PANJIM: Desperate efforts are on to plug the entry of sewerage into Panjim’s water supply line which is already suspected of being contaminated within an area of one kilometre in the heart of the city.

The affected area is between Sky Lark apartments and Ding Dong Bar on 18th June Road. The PWD has been working round-the-clock to locate the exact point of contamination but has not yet located the same.

NEW DELHI: Goa’s Congress MP Shantaram Naik recently expressed concern over the mining activities in Sindhudurg district of the neighbouring Maharashtra polluting rivers in his state, particularly Tiracol and Colvale that originate in Maharashtra.

Raising the issue through a special mention in the Rajya Sabha, he wanted the Centre to alert the appropriate authorities in Maharashtra to curb this menace by taking action under the Environment Protection Act, Water Pollution Act and the laws dealing with mining.

Capturing of animals is also illegal especially if the animal is a species figures in the schedules of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and people who indulge in such publicity could also face action and arrests from the forest officials.

Araujo’s observations come even as the Wildlife Institute of India declared that leopards (which also are animals that are “rescued”) is occupying an even greater area of Goa’s forests.

Says State has no elephant population

PANJIM: As the Union Government is bracing up for three-day synchronized National Elephant Census in six States including Goa, the Forest Department has said that ‘State has no elephant population and the jumbos who come down here usually migrate from the neighbouring States.’ According to a directive issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), the six-State Census would begin from May 22 and will be later conducted throughout the country, the MoEF notification reads.

Leases to be cancelled if firms fail to adhere to revised norms

PANJIM: The high level mining monitoring committee appointed by the State will start its visit to all 90-odd mines, ahead of the monsoons to ensure that the mining sites are not disaster prone. The mining leases will be cancelled if companies fail to adhere to the revised safety norms, which make it mandatory for mining firms to get the surface rights of the area around their mines, which is likely to be affected with mining activity.

PANJIM: Chief minister Manohar Parrikar’s ambitious plan of cleaning Goa’s roads of plastic litter and debris from May 20, is likely to be deferred as government agencies are still working out the modalities of what appears to be a mammoth task.

The State Public Works Department Principal Chief Engineer J S Rego said that the PWD has begun the process for identifying dumping grounds for debris and would be working closely with municipal bodies and village panchayats regarding waste collection in their respective areas.

PANJIM: The sword hangs over 44 mines as the clock ticks on the report on buffer zone for wildlife sanctuaries and national park which is due to be submitted on May 31. Indications are that the government appointed committees, are likely to propose three to five kilometers as buffer zone for the sanctuaries.

Senior forest department official said that the committees, which were due to submit their report on May 12, have now sought extension till May 31.The department is expecting the report to be submitted before this deadline, the implementation, of which will be done from next mining season, beginning October.

PANJIM: The minor mineral extractors in the state will now have to seek permission from union Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) before applying for the licence with the state Mines and Geology department, according to an order issued the Mines department on Thursday following Supreme Court directives.

The directives stated that the leases of minor mineral including their renewal for an area of less than five hectares be granted by the States/Union Territories only after getting environmental clearance from the MoEF. The order was passed on February 27, in a petition filed by one Deepak Kumar and other v/s state of Haryana.

Minimum size of mine lease should be 5 ha. Minimum period of mine lease should be 5 years.Mine plans should be made mandatory

Separate corpus for reclamation and rehabilitation of mined out areas. For river bed mining, leases should be granted stretch wise, depth may be restricted to 3m/water level, whichever is less, and safety zones should be worked out.

PANJIM: The mining companies operating the leases in wildlife sanctuaries in the past will have to pay for restoration of the areas affected with the extraction and dumping of the ore.

Following a high court directive, the state forest department has decided to rigorously follow up the matter with the mining companies asking them to pay the cost of restoration.