PANAJI: With the onset of monsoon, Goa government has ordered a stop on transportation of iron ore by trucks using roads from mining sites to jetties.
"In the interest of public safety, the transportation of mineral by road is hereby stopped and until further orders," Director of Mines and Geology Prasanna Acharya has said in an order issued yesterday.
The Directorate has, however, said that the transport of ore from jetties (located at the banks of river) to the port will continue (as they don’t require trucks to carry the ore).
The ore from jetties to port is carried on barges (ships). "This stoppage, however shall not affect transportation of existing ore from jetties via barges till port exporters or bidders," Acharya said in the order.
Goa has witnessed resumption of mining activities after a long standing ban owing to allegations of illegal mining. In all, 62 mining leases are granted the consent to operate which has a capacity to extract 15.2 million tones of ore. The mining industry in the state has exported 8.8 million tonnes of ore during financial year 2015-16.
Of the total exports, 3.4 million tonnes were fresh extracted ore, while the remaining 5.4 million tonnes from e-auctioned from the stocks piled up at various mining sites and jetties.