Thaindian News

Panaji, Nov 21 (IANS) The Congress will raise during the winter session of parliament beginning Tuesday the alleged leak to media of a sensitive report on illegal mining in Goa, a statement said Monday.

Goa’s lone MP in the Rajya Sabha Shantaram Naik strongly backed the mining industry and said those responsible for allegedly leaking the Justice M.B. Shah report on illegal mining would have to be taken to task.

“The inquiry about the mining operations in Goa had been ordered by the ministry of mines of government of India to bring transparency into the system. The government will take due action after the commission’s report is submitted,” Naik said.

“But leakage of the report will have to be inquired into and those responsible should be taken to task,” he said.

“We cannot allow legal mining to be stopped and starve the families depending on the mining activities directly and indirectly. But the government will be firm in dealing with illegal mining,” Naik said.

Members of the central government-appointed Justice M.B. Shah Commission - under the Commission of Enquiries Act - to probe illegal mining across India have already hinted at large-scale illegal mining in Goa during their field visits here last month.

A leading television channel ran a story on illegal mining in Goa last week, claiming they had exclusive access to the contents of the report which is expected to be submitted to the centre in December.

The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has accused the government of a Rs.25,000 crore illegal mining scam, saying it was bigger than the Bellary mining scam in Karnataka.

Goa exported 54 million tonnes of iron ore in the last fiscal from its nearly 100 operational open cast iron ore mines.