Goa mining: Gadkari for balanced solution

Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari today said the solution to Goa mining ban has to be found while keeping the "employment security and protection of environment" in mind.

Mining activity in the coastal state came to a halt on March 16 this year following a ban imposed by the Supreme Court.

Gadkari also hinted at approaching the apex court on the matter.

"We are going back to the supreme court. We will try to find out the solution between the lines of employment security and protection to environment," Gadkari told reporters here.

He is on a two-day visit to Goa to attend a meeting of Highways department officials to review the ongoing works across the country.

Taking a jibe at opponents of mining, Gadkari said, "....No philosophy can be taught to any individual if economy itself is finished".

"We have to find a way out for this (mining) problem. The solution has to be a balanced one between the protection of jobs and conservation of environment," he said.

Meanwhile, BJP MLA Nilesh Cabral, who was part of a Goa delegation that had met Gadkari in Delhi, said the state government might file an intervention application in the supreme court with a plea to allow mining till 2020.

Cabral, however, ruled out the possibility of the government filing a review petition in the top court against the mining ban.

"There won't be any review plea before the SC. We have to work out a strategy taking the supreme court into confidence," he said.