)
Referring to the blanket suspension of mining in Goa due to illegal activity in the sector, Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar today said one should not burn the entire house because of rats living in it. "Don't burn your house because rats live in it," Parrikar said while addressing a conference of IIT Bombay alumni near here.
His comments came at the backdrop of the mining activity in Goa being halted since last year following Supreme Court directives which had asked the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) to investigate the illegal mining and submit its report. The government has alleged that the ban has severely affected the state's economy.
"If there is illegality, ban the illegality," Parrikar said, while participating in a discussion on 'Future of learning in India to produce both skills and education'.
He also said that "the more green your state is, the court judgements and environment ministry conditions become more stringent," he said.
The ban on mining has resulted in the stopping of iron ore exports worth six billion dollars from Goa and nine billion dollars from Karnataka, resulting in the trade off set of 15 billion dollar, Parrikar said.
"On the other hand we had to start importing the ore," he pointed out.
