While most people who are concerned about the mining industry and its toll on Goa’s environment are aware of the work of activists like Ravindra Velip or Ramesh Gauns, few know of Shankar Jog who passed away last week (9 July 2018) at his home in Sacordem, Goa.

At age 81, he was a sprightly individual. He had some problem with his eyes and would invariably drop by our office when he visited his medical specialist in Mapusa. But despite all this, he had spunk. Not many people within his age group would dare to do the things he did and which he still wanted to do.

When he last came to the Goa Foundation office two months ago to discuss a case, he was determined to pursue illegalities surrounding the alienation of Alvara lands, some of which had been illegally acquired by mining companies. But before that, he had already tied several mining companies in a knot from which they have yet to untie themselves.

Shankar Jog, like many sensitive Goans, had the unfortunate legacy of living next to a mining lease, in his case, the lease of M/s Talaulicar & Sons. He had raised objections during the public hearing of the mining lease in 2005. However, the Ministry of Environment simply granted the environment clearance. We now all know now how and why this happens. Shankar Jog suffered the rejection of his objections and waited. Either he took down this mine or the mine would finish him and his village of Sacordem, already ravaged by other mines.

In 2010 he moved a writ petition before the Bombay High Court, arguing that the term of the environment clearance granted to the mining lease of M/s Talaulikar had ended because, under the EIA notification of 1994 (under which the environment clearance had been granted) no clearance was valid beyond 5 years. Of all the 1.4 billion people in this country, only Shankar Jog had discovered this rather strange truth and decided to move the Court on it.

The Bombay High Court agreed with him! The Court then ordered closure of the Talaulicar mine in three months. Talaulicar filed an appeal in the Supreme Court which refused to stay the High Court direction.

With the High Court judgement in hand, Shankar Jog now moved the National Green Tribunal at Delhi. His prayer: the High Court of Bombay had held 1994 environment clearances to be valid for only 5 years. It had shut down the Talaulicar mine. Shankar Jog told the NGT that another 54 mining leases were sailing in the same boat and the High Court order must be implemented against them as well.

Like the High Court had done before it, the National Green Tribunal also agreed with Shankar Jog! It passed an order for the closure of the remaining mining leases which had also got their environment clearance under the 1994 notification. (By then there was no need to implement the order because the Supreme Court stayed the resumption of mining on October 5, 2012.)

The Ministry of Environment & Forests, lover of mining companies and mining barons, now jumped into the fray. It issued a notification which sought to correct the High Court judgement, saying that in its opinion the EC was not valid for only 5 years. Shankar Jog immediately brought this to the notice of the NGT which issued a contempt notice against the Ministry.

The Ministry now had to move the Supreme Court of India to get out of trouble. The Supreme Court stayed the contempt notice. It also transferred all the matters pending before the NGT connected with the issue to itself. In July 2014 the Supreme Court finally passed its judgement on the Talaulicar appeal, the NGT applications and Shankar Jog’s claims.

It did not go into the issue of the 5 year validity of environment clearances granted under the 1994 notification. It said it did not have to go that far. In its opinion, the Talaulicar mining lease in fact had an environment clearance that was valid for only two years (not even five). The Court found that the environment clearance had been originally granted for two years and, without a public hearing, had been illegally extended to 5 years. This was wrong. It therefore set aside the order extending the environment clearance beyond two years.

Shankar Jog’s original victory was thus saved in substance. The mining lease remained shut. Jog now requested the Goa  Foundation for help to move the NGT, Pune, to shut down all the mining leases that had been originally granted an environment clearance valid for only two years, since the new interpretation given by the Supreme Court also applied to them. This we did. The NGT heard us and sent the matter back to the Ministry of Environment. It ordered the MOEF to listen to Shankar Jog, the Goa Foundation and the 25 odd mining companies. After hearing all parties, the MOEF referred the matter to the Law Ministry. Finally, just like the High Court and the NGT before it, the Law Ministry too agreed that Shankar Jog (and the Goa Foundation) was absolutely right.

As a consequence, in 2017, the Ministry of Environment wrote to the Goa Pollution Control Board and to the 25 mining companies, saying they would have to submit fresh proposals and go for fresh environment clearances. But by 7 February, the Supreme Court of India had decided to shut down all mining activity on 88 mining leases illegally renewed by the Goa Government.

Every now and then society produces these remarkable individuals who do more than they are expected to do. Shankar Jog was a retired government employee when he decided to apply his mind to implementing the environment laws of this country to his local village environment, dominated by a mining lease that cared little for it. He received no funding. He paid for all expenses from his savings. He never complained about his medical problems. In the end, he achieved the incredible: he got the High Court, then the NGT and then the Supreme Court of India to look into what he was saying. All gave him substantial justice. When he passed away last week, it did appear that he had fulfilled his objective of keeping his village safe from mining during his life-time at least. Which is all that is expected of any individual. He will not get a Padma Shri, nor will the Goa government honour him. But all the people of this state who suffered from the mining juggernaut over the past 15 years will pay their respects to him and keep him in their hearts forever. Maybe some good teachers will speak about him to their students in class, so that younger people are convinced they can do great things like he did.