PANAJI:  Three members of the Supreme Court-appointed central empowered  committee, which has been  asked to inquire into the mining scenario, arrived in the state on Sunday. They held meetings with various mining industry stakeholders.

The committee, headed by its chairman, Mr P V Jayakrishanan, will be in the state till October 31 and is likely to submit its report to the  apex court on November 2.
The SC has banned mining operations including transportation of already mined iron ore.
Senior mine owners,  including Mr Shivanand Salgaocar of Salgaocar mining, Mr Ambar Timblo of Fomento, Sesa Goa’s Mr P K Mukherjee, lined up to meet the committee that first met representatives of the NGO that had petitioned the apex court at Altinho.
Later on, the committee members met representatives of the mining machinery owners, truckers, barge owners and panchayats.
Present for the meetings was the  mines and geology director, Mr Prassana Acharya.
The committee members cross checked with stakeholders about various details in their related fields. The mines department had submitted details of mining operations in the state to the CEC prior to their arrival.
The truck owners associations in the state were asked on the number of trucks, trip details, where they were plying, while mining machine association was asked about details of their machines. Barge owners were asked about numbers.
The committee also met ten sarpanchas from both North and South Goa, representing 49 mining-affected panchayats and two municipalities in four  mining-affected talukas.
The Mollem sarpanch, Mr G Gaokar, the Pissurlem sarpanch  Mr V Parob and the Kudnem sarpanch,  Ms Poonam Petkar called on the CEC members.
The panchayats representatives submitted a memorandum along with copies of resolutions passed at special gram sabhas asking that legal mining be started immediately.
Some panchayats also asked for relaxation in buffer zone restrictions.
Truck owners – five  representatives each from North and South Goa -- also put in a representation claiming that in case mining is not started within a month, it would result in suicides. Truckers delegations were led by Mr Mahesh ‘Shambu’ Ladu Gwas (North) and Mr Prakash Raut Desai (South). Machine owners were represented by Mr Sandeep Parab and Mr Mahesh Angle,  barge owners were represented by Mr Atul Jadhav.
Bank officials, including the chairman of the Goa State Cooperative Bank, Mr Ulhas Phaldessai, met the committee.  
The government was represented by MLAs Dr Pramod Sawant and Mr Subhash Phaldessai.