Mines to be closed

Goa's environment ministry has ordered six mines operating close to the wildlife sanctuaries of Goa close operations. The list of mines to be
closed includes an iron ore mine owned by Sesa Goa. Two mines are owned by Shantilal Khushaldas Brothers at Rivona; these mines were
operating without the requisite clearances from the forest department. A mine owned by Damodar Mangalji is on land that has rock carvings said
to date back 9,000 years. This mine is not on the list of mines to be closed. The move to close the mines follows an assurance by the state
environment minister Aleixo Sequeira in the state assembly that mining would not be permitted near wildlife sanctuaries, especially the Netravali
and Bhagwan Mahaveer reserves. The chief conservator of forests for Goa, Shashi Kumar, had submitted a report saying many of these mines
did not even have basic clearances.

--Mayabhushan Nagvenkar Panaji