COMMENTARY
INTERVIEWS
SPECIALS
CHAT
ARCHIVES

Goa cracks the whip on mining houses for not registering 'machinery-vehicles'

Sandesh Prabhudesai in Panaji

For the first time in Goa's history, the all-powerful mining lobby had to face the brunt of the government authorities with over half of their non-registered mining machinery being raided and challened, following a major raid on the top five houses of the tourist state.

''I would not succumb to any pressure and nobody can control my government,'' said state transport minister Fatima D'Sa. She claims support from all her coalition partners, including the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party, besides blessings of chief minister Dr Wilfred de Souza.

The transport department teams found 64 non-registered vehicles in late night raids conducted simultaneously in both the districts on Thursday on eight mines owned by the big five mining houses of the state. D'Sa has also announced that raids would continue till all the mining machinery, categorised as vehicles, is regularised.

The heavy mining machinery with wheels was brought under the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act with an amendment in 1988. But hardly any machinery was regularised since then by paying the vehicle tax, which amounts to around Rs 30,000 per vehicle. They are now also fined at the rate of Rs 3,000 per vehicle, besides collecting the tax amount.

The mining houses now under scrutiny are Chowgule, Dempo, Salgaocar, Timblo and Sesa Goa that virtually control extraction and export of the mineral ore, which is the backbone of Goa's economy.

While the transport department would collect around Rs 2.11 million with these raids, D'Sa claims that total evasion may total up to millions since hardly any mining machinery is being registered under the Act. The action is being appreciated all over the state since this is the first time big industrialists are fined, instead of small vehicle owners.