Ruling, opposition legislators say State should take over mining

Panaji, April 9 (IANS) Mining in Goa should be nationalised, if needed, to tide over the “crisis” which has resulted from the Supreme Court-enforced ban on the industry, said legislators from both ruling and opposition said during a house debate Tuesday.

Nilesh Cabral, a ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator from Curchorem, a mining town in south Goa, located 40 km from here, also said that the ban had resulted in a slump in the real estate industry.

“If you have to, nationalise mines because people should not be in trouble. Take this step if you want to,” Cabral told the house, during a debate on mining.

Cabral is not the first legislator to demand nationalisation of the mining industry, which recently saw a scam of Rs.35,000 crore as pegged by the Justice M.B. Shah Commission, which was appointed to probe illegal mining in the state.

Congress legislator Reginaldo Lourenco, speaking during the debate, also demanded setting up of a state-run mining corporation.

“We should have a mining corporation in the north and south Goa to carry out mining,” Lourenco said, adding that setting up of a mineral development corporation would help the state earn high revenue.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.