PANAJI
Representatives of some 26 village panchayats from Goa's mining belt have again appealed to the Supreme Court of India, to urgently take up the resumption of mining in Goa so as to provide relief to the mining dependents.
These representatives of village panchayats claimed that, the Goa Mining industry has been misrepresented before government agencies and also the judiciary.
These panchayat representatives had also filed a similar representation to the Supreme Court of India several months ago in which they had demanded a solution to the impasse faced by them for the past 40 months of mining stoppage.
They further said that immediate resumption is the only solution to the devastation caused by mining stoppage which has disrupted over 3 lakh livelihoods and which has been followed by the impacts of the Covid pandemic on the tourism sector adding to the economic hardships.
Pissurlem sarpanch Jayashree Devanand Parab said: "Village Sarpanchs, Workers' Associations and representatives of various Truck Associations and other ancillary bodies have come together to discuss the gravity of the situation”
“The morbid condition of the people and business owners post the mining stoppage is getting scary affecting the basic needs of families. The picture of AatmaNirbhar Bharat painted by the Prime Minister seems to have become a non-starter in Goa since people have no business to run and the two biggest job providing sectors are at the lowest point”, she added.
A third-year has completed since mining has stopped in Goa and no concrete solutions are forthcoming from any quarter, whether the government or the judiciary, to resolve the imbroglio.
Swati Tilve, Sarpanch of Dharbandora said, "There is an utter need to immediately resume mining in the state to mete out the disparity prevailed due to the policy misinterpretation & legal flaws. The stoppage of mining in Goa has not only brought economic instability in the mining belt but also wrenched off confidence of people for planning to educate their children”.
“There is a rise in the number of domestic violence cases. Our trucks and machineries are lying idle from past 3.5 years and the debts are increasing manifold leading tension in the households”, she lamented.
She further said, the delay in restarting mining is affecting common mining dependent people because there is no other alternate livelihood to compensate the mining earnings.
