TEAM HERALD

teamherald@herald-goa.com

PANJIM: The State government in an attempt to ‘put things in order’ has made three inspections per mine compulsory, while non-working, abandoned mines or mines under prospective working or under reconnaissance permit will be inspected at least once a year. 

style="margin: 0px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; text-align: justify;">The inspection report has to be prepared within 10 days according to an order issued by Mines Director Prasanna Acharya and notified in the official gazette. The order also authorizes officials including mines director or any other officer “specifically directed/empowered in this behalf by the Director of Mines & Geology” (under section 24(1) of MMDR Act, 1957) to enter and inspect any mine, survey and take measurements in any such mine, weigh, measure or take measurement of the stocks of minerals lying at any mine. 

The officials also have the powers to examine any document, book, register, or record in the possession of any person or connected with, any mine and do marking of identification, and take extracts or make copies of such document, book, register or record. The officials can also order that such document, book, register, records be produced before them. 

It may be recalled that the Department had been pulled up for relying on the mining lessees for information and lambasted for its lax supervision.

The above powers are vested for ascertaining the position of the actual or prospective working of any mine or abandoned mine or for any other purpose connected with this MMDR Act, 1957 or the rules made thereunder.

Every person to whom an order of summons is issued by virtue of the powers conferred by clause (e) or clause (f) above shall be legally bound to comply with such order or summons, as the case may be.

The Director of Mines & Geology office shall maintain Inspection register specifying date of inspection, the details of lease inspected, the details of the officer, who have inspected the mine and brief details of the inspection in the remark column.

Meanwhile the Mines Department has also completed the Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) survey of five 

of the 82 mining leases. Presentations by agencies for completion of the balance leases have been “80 per cent completed,” Acharya said, informing that there were some 15-20 applications.

The Department would hear the balance 20 per cent applications by the 4-5 of January, 2013. DGPS is an improvement to the Global Positioning System and provides improved location accuracy. GPS gives around 15-meter accuracy, while DGPS accuracy is within 10 cm in best case scenario.

DGPS uses many, networked fixed, ground-based stations to broadcast the difference between the positions indicated by the satellite systems.