Notices issued to 8 mines for overloading
PTI, PANAJI | 12 May 2012 12:26 IST
Goa Mines and Geology Department today issued notices to eight mining firms for violating the norms under the Mines Act by overloading trucks with iron ore in Cauvrem and Rivona areas, a mineral rich-belt in South Goa.
Director of Mines Prasanna Acharya said that notices are issued to eight mining firms, as the trucks operating for their mining leases were found overloading.
This is for the first time that the mine owners and not the truck operators are held responsible for overloading.
In its notice, the department has given 8 days' time for the mining firms to explain the dereliction, failing which, the action would be taken under the Mines Act.
Trucks overloading the ore, which eventually gets spilled over on the main road, had become nuisance in the mining belt.
The Transport Department has been confiscating such overloading vehicles.
Chief minister Manohar Parrikar, after taking over the reigns of the state, had instructed the Mines Department to hold the mine-owners responsible for the violation of overloading.
"Trucks are loaded within the mining leases, so it is the responsibility of the mining firms, if there is any overloading," a senior Mines official said.
Goa government has been on the mission to regulate mining in the state.
Parrikar has enacted several regulatory methods to ensure that the illegal ore is not exported out of the state.
The state exported 43 million metric tonnes of iron ore last year, which was 30 per cent less compared to the exports during earlier year.
