Committee finds no mining around Goa's wildlife sanctuaries

PANAJI: A high-level committee on mining affairs in Goa has said that it did not find any exploration activity within or around the state's wildlife sanctuaries.

"We have not found a single case where there is mining within or around wild life sanctuaries in the state," chief conservator of forest (CCF) Shashi Kumar, who heads the committee, stated.

"If such mining exists, the Forest Department would have naturally acted against it. We would not have kept quiet," Kumar said.

The committee, constituted last year, is having mandate to inspect all the mines and compile the irregularities and violation of norms by the mine owners.

The committee has compiled five reports till date listing various irregularities. "In the entire report, there is not a single case where we have found mining in the wild life sanctuaries or on their peripheries," the CCF said.

The State Legislative Assembly sessions held this year saw the Opposition hurling allegations against the Mining Department of shielding mining within wildlife sanctuaries.

The state, which shares its corridor with Western Ghats, has five wildlife sanctuaries and a national park.