'I have told them (the high level committee) that if they find any mines operating illegally, they can stop them right on the spot,' Kamat said.

'The animal cannot distinguish between these boundaries. Mining in such close proximity of forests pushes these animals further away,' Leader of Opposition Manohar Parrikar said.

Mining of low-grade iron ore and manganese in the less glamorous Goan hinterland is a major industry in the coastal state, even as environmentalists have accused successive state governments of being hand-in-glove with the mining lobby, which extracts nearly 30 million tonnes of ore for exports annually.