Goa’s Rs 800 cr mining scam

By Dilip -
The country’s mining scandals have claimed one chief minister already. On 5 September, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested G Janardhan Reddy, former Karnataka minister, for the Obulapuram Mining Company’s role in illegal mining as documented by the Karnataka Lokayukta in July. Since the CBI is said to be probing the roles played by as many as 65 mining companies, the logical question is: who will be the next big fish to be caught in the net?
The Goa Chief Minister, Digambar Kamat, bids fair to be the next target of inquiry. Official data and documents accessed by Firstpost  on show that he either aided or abetted or looked the other way when illegal mining activities running into over Rs 800 crore were taking place. And this figure refers to only illegal mining over the last four years.

For example, Goa government records show that there are 90 active iron ore mines in the state. But 48 of them were shown to be extracting more than what their environmental clearances (EC) allowed them. In other words, more than half the mines are breaking the law – and Kamat has done little to rein them in. Read more:
http://www.firstpost.com/politics/yeddy-reddy-kamat-goas-rs-800-cr-mining-scam-is-next-76286.html


Also read about the debate between Hartman de Souza and the Tehelka editor Tarun Tejpal on how and why Tehelka didn't report the story:
http://kafila.org/2011/11/03/an-open-letter-to-tarun-tejpal-hartman-de-souza/

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