Panaji, Nov 20 (TOI): Following the Union law ministry asking the Union mines ministry to decline Goa’s request for an amendment to the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, chief minister Manohar Parrikar wrote to the latter asking it to amend a specific section of the Act to resume mining in the state.

It was recently reported that law secretary Suresh Chandra informed the mines ministry last month that there was no legislative cure to the shutdown of mines in Goa following a decision by the Supreme Court in February. He advised that miners directly approach the apex court for a review.

After the decision became known, Parrikar last week called an urgent meeting with representatives of mining companies to discuss the future course of action.

‘Would be useless to approach AG’

At this meeting, it was decided that a specific amendment be proposed to overcome the situation.

Thus, Parrikar wrote to Union mines minister Narendra Tomar to insert Section 8(b) in Section 8A so that mining in Goa continues to operate from the date of grant of lease, from 1987, for a period of 50 years.

Sources said that the effect of the proposed amendment would be that concessions which were converted into leases by virtue of the Abolition Act, 1987, and which haven’t subsequently declared as lapsed by the state government, shall be deemed to have been granted for a period of 50 years from the date of assent of the said Act.

The Union law ministry is reportedly of the view that it would be pointless to approach the attorney general for an opinion on Goa’s proposed amendment, which was “inconsistent” with Section 8A of the Act as well as the Supreme Court judgment.

Section 8A deals with the period of grant of a mining lease for minerals other than coal, lignite and atomic minerals, and limits the period for which existing leases may be extended depending on the nature of the mining lease — captive or non-captive.

Sources said in Parrikar’s first letter to Tomar, which the chief minister wrote from AIIMS, Delhi, was general in nature and there was no specific amendment proposed. In the letter, he sought a ‘necessary amendment’ to extend the tenure of leases for a particular period so that mining operations can be restarted in Goa.