Stating things have reached a boiling point in the wake of mining ban, Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar today said apprehending violence in the region, police has been told to keep a strict vigil.
Replying to a query by Congress legislator Jeniffer Monserratte whether the government had received police reports about things going out of hands in the mining belt and people likely to resort to violence or commit suicides, the CM said things indeed have reached the boiling point and the police were asked to keep a strict vigil.
He said that rehabilitation schemes were being formulated for the people hit by mining ban and some have already been announced.
The Supreme Court, in September last year, had ordered to stop iron ore mining in Goa pending investigation by the Centrally Empowered Committee into the allegations of illegal mining.
Referring to Monserratte's concern over the safety of people affiliated to Goa Foundation, a NGO which had moved to the apex court against illegal mining, resulting in the temporary ban, Parrikar said that there was no such safety concern.
The ban on mining is estimated to have affected over one lakh people in the state, with a population of 14 lakh.
The state government has already announced financial help for truck owners and others left unemployed due to ban on mining.
