By IANS,
Panaji : A Central Empowered Committee (CEC) now in Goa to investigate illegal mining Monday met the chief secretary and toured one of the biggest mining leases in the state at Shigao.
While the committee did not speak to the media, the three-member team led by former secretary of ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) P. Jayakrishnan met Goa Chief Secretary B. Vijayan with a questionnaire related to the mining industry and reported irregularities.
The CEC team asked Vijayan about the comprehensive plan put in place by the Goa government to tackle illegal mining, according to officials.
A committee headed by Justice M.B. Shah, a retired Supreme Court judge, recently submitted its report to parliament, exposing a Rs.35,000 crore scam in the state’s mining sector.
The apex court appointed the CEC Oct 5 and empowered it to investigate illegal mining in Goa within one month, until which time mining was banned in the state.
A petition seeking ban on mining was filed by lawyer-activist Prashant Bhushan along with a Goa-based green NGO led by Claude Alvares.
The CEC team along with Alvares conducted an inspection of the Shigao mines in Bicholim sub-district, about 35 km from here, after meeting representatives of the state’s mining industry. The team also met truck owners and river barge operators who transport ore from mines to cargo vessels at the Goa port.