Quarrying at Pansaimol: HC seeks status report from govt

Panaji: The high court of Bombay at Goa has directed the advocate general to apprise the court about a further status report concerning prosecution, the showcause notice issued by the director of mines for recovery of amount, and action, if any, that may be proposed against the officials of the police department and the directorate of mines and industries concerning illegal quarrying near a protected site.
The court had taken suo motu cognisance of TOI’s report on laterite quarrying being carried out 300m from Pansaimol petroglyphs which is threatening prehistoric rock art,and treated the news report as a public interest litigation.
“Considering the magnitude of the quarrying operations, we do not think that it would be difficult for the police authorities to trace the culprits. At least, the photographs indicate that this quarrying operations on an organised scale were being carried out in a small village. According to us, this matter will have to be very seriously investigated,” the HC had stated in an earlier hearing.
The court had directed officials to immediately visit the site and take action to stop any illegal quarrying and also directed the incharge of Quepem police station with whom an FIR has been lodged, to file a status report in sealed cover indicating status of the investigation.
It had also sought explanations from the directorate of archives and archaeology on the steps taken for maintenance and preservation of the prehistoric rock carvings at Pansaimol-Usgalimol, Sanguem.
After perusing the first status report filed in sealed cover, the court had stated that it is “not quite satisfied about the progress or the seriousness of the investigations…”
Directorate of archives and archaeology acknowledged the digging/excavation on the plateau surrounding the site of Pansaimol may damage the engravings because there was no proper survey carried out on the area surrounding the site.
The high court also called for steps taken for survey of the vicinity as proposed.