Faced with the rising number of iron ore tailing dumps outside mining lease hold areas, the government of the western Indian state of Goa will seek legislative amendments to curb the problem, a senior government official said on Thursday, June 30.
The official said that the government investigations revealed that many iron ore reject dumps have come to light outside mining lease hold areas and in fact some miners are even dumping tailings in forests and environmentally protected areas of the state.
He pointed out that the menace of iron ore tailing dumps increased following an amendment to the Mines, Minerals Development and Regulation Act 2015 which permitted miners to dump outside mining lease hold areas.
The official said that the Goa government will ask the Federal Ministry of Steel and Mines to incorporate checks within the Act which could prevent dumping of iron ore tailings anywhere within the state.