Ayush min had said solution after February 15 PANAJI: With the Centre failing to find a solution to ensure the resumption of mining in the state and Lok Sabha elections drawing closer, the state government, in the face of mounting pressure from mining dependants, has decided to go ahead and find a solution to the issue.TCP minister Vijai Sardesai, who raised the matter at the cabinet meeting on Monday, said that chief minister Manohar Parrikar told them that the “solution to the mining issue will have to come from the state”.The chief minster, however, did not elaborate on the solution, Sardesai said.“Parrikar feels that nothing is coming from the Centre and that the state will have to do something (on mining issue),” Sardesai said, adding that when he asked Parrikar if the solution would come after Lok Sabha elections, Parrikar said it will come before. The TCP minister said he told the chief minister that when mining dependants ask what the government is doing on the issue they lack answers.Mining in Goa came to halt from March 15, 2018, following the Supreme Court decision to quash the second renewal of 88 mining leases.Mining dependants had given the state and Union government till February 13 to resolve the mining issue saying that if nothing was done by then they would work against the BJP for both the bypolls and Lok Sabha elections.Prime Minister Narendra Modi had told a Goa delegation on February 7 that he would look for a resolution to restart mining operations.But, president of Goa Mining People’s Front (GMFP) Puti Gaonkar said that the Prime Minister gave no concrete assurance.On January 20, Modi spoke for the first time on Goa’s mining issue via video conferencing and assured the people of taking steps to restarting the industry.“I have been told that there is a worry among the Goans over mining issue… It’s natural. We are trying to find out a solution. The Centre and the state government, besides the three BJP MPs from Goa, are working over the same. We are taking expert guidance and are trying our best to save the livelihood of poor. I also keep myself abreast of related issues in social media,” Modi had said.Ayush minister Shripad Naik said that the mining issue will be resolved after February 15 and that Modi had already instructed the ministers in his cabinet to come up with a solution to Goa’s mining issue.

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