Parrikar must go for revival of mining in Goa: Congress

If Goa is to find a lasting solution to the mining crisis, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has to go, state Congress president Girish Chodankar said here on Tuesday, blaming him for mismanagement of the mining sector, leading to ban.

"Parrikar has been fooling the people for more than a year after the Supreme Court order (in February 2018) and the BJP leaders, Union ministers, cabinet ministers and MPs have been making misleading statements (vis a vis mining resumption)," Chodankar said.

"It is only Parrikar's greed for power that does not allow him to admit his blunders. Unless he acknowledges that, he will not be able to solve the problem. The main obstacle to the mining solution is Parrikar and it can be solved only with his resignation," Chodankar said.

The statement comes after Parrikar told ministers at a cabinet meeting on Monday the Centre would be unable to restart mining in Goa and the state government would have to explore means to revive it.

The mining ban has been hanging fire ever since the Supreme Court banned extraction and transportation of iron ore from 88 mines in February 2018. Mining was first temporarily banned in 2012 by Parrikar, following the Rs 35,000 crore mining scam, unearthed by the Justice M.B. Shah Commission.

The apex court also directed the state government to re-issue mining leases.

MLAs as well as the Goa Mining People's Front, a lobby of mining-affected people, have launched a campaign against the government seeking a solution to the ban.

After repeatedly pressurising BJP MLAs and MPs, members of the Front met Prime Minister Narendra Modi some weeks ago, but were unhappy with Modi's assurance that he would "look into the matter".

--IANS

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