The Centre has asked the Goa government to immediately restrict all activities regarding removal of minerals from dumps located outside the mining lease areas. Mines Ministry in letter to Goa government, said Goa government should immediately restrict all activities for removal of mineral from the dumps located outside the lease areas, till an appropriate mechanism is evolved .

The directive comes close on heels of Justice M B Shah Commission, which probed into the issue of illegal mining of iron ore and manganese in Goa, recommending that dumping of minerals or any subsequent work should be done only with proper permission and approval of the Indian Bureau of Mines
and clearance from the concerned state government department. As per the Goa government,there are 37 mining reject dumps on revenue land, majority of which belong to big mining firms including Dempo, Sesa Goa
and Fomento.

Earlier, the one-man enquiry commission went into the issue of illegal mining in the state and also recommended
that state government should upload information about mining leases on their websites to introduce transparency in the sector.

The Commission in its report also suggested that mining leases be granted through public auction to reduce corruption.