PANJIM: As the South West monsoon is set to arrive in Goa anytime now, the Goa State Pollution Control Board has decided to order inspection of all the 28 jetties, where ore is stacked, to ensure that it does not get washed into the river and pollute it. Currently, three million metric tonnes of ore is stacked at the jetties while another one million metric tonnes has already been auctioned. Following the Supreme Court order, the State auctioned around 2.1 million metric tons of ore, including ore lying at Mormugao Port Trust and Rivona Mine, through three different e-auctions conducted on February 17, March 5 and May 12. The total value realized is approximately Rs 300 crore, which as per the latest judgment of the Supreme Court would go to the State treasury. GSPCB Chairman Jose Manuel Noronha said the inspection would be carried within this week, and exporters would be asked to take adequate steps to ensure that the iron ore does not run into the water bodies as the State may witness heavy rainfall from June. “We have no idea as how much ore is currently stacked at jetties after the e-auction. But still we have to take precautionary measures,” he said. Noronha said that the washed off ore is not hazardous but it could lead to siltation, marginal pollution and increased iron ore content in the water. He said that 0.3 per milligram is a permissible content of iron ore in water. “It can get extended upto 1 milligram but in extreme conditions,” Noronha said. In the past, the Directorate of Mines and Geology had expressed its helplessness in protecting the stacked ore from running off into the water and had made all efforts to ensure that the ore staked at jetties is sold during the e-auctions. However, with the iron ore prices in the international market plummeting, the department could not complete the e-auction of ore. The iron ore lying at the jetties is basically the one extracted prior to the last monsoon season and is ready for export.