For over 22,000 families in Mining Goa, this Ganesh Chaturthi is merely a chance to keep thoughts about an increasingly uncertain future in abeyance. They are the ones who Justice Shah has hit the most.
Mining Heartland: A bright sun shines over acres of green cashew trees,interspersed with coconut and betel palms. It is the day before Ganesh Chovth.The time when tippers and truckers would be cleaning up their trucks. Chovth,the big family reunion that heralds the arrival of another busy, lucrativemining season ahead is disquieting this year. Stunning at 65, the mother ofthree married off girls Nayani Kudnekar carefully counts the number of idols inher living room. A neighbourhood urchin sneaks in for a private sojourn withthe Gods, as he readies to go to all households.
“I send my share of luck and fortune with Ganpati’s idols sothat everyone is happy” smiles Nayani, her searching eyes betraying somethingmore. Will her share of luck change the fortunes of the tipper industry in Goa?She explains how her 130 odd idols will brighten up the lives of as manyfamilies in Kudnem. Nayani is unlike the 130 who have paid her money for thesebreathtakingly beautiful idols of the Lord. These 130 have tippers that ferryiron ores from the mines to the barges. Some familes have two, some have four,others even more. These are patrons who sustained Nayani year after year sinceher husband retired, jobless. The patrons, strangely enough haven’t beenhovering around the idols on Chovth eve unlike other years. Nayani is worried.
A stone’s throw away, Vaman Narayan Malik, lovingly known asNanibab, slides down the aluminum ladder after pasting neatly cut strips ofcoloured paper on the ceiling. “We are seven brothers and between us, we have52 tippers that service the mines around. All of them are coming here”, saysNani showing off his 250 year old home. But all is not well at Nanibab’shousehold. The womenfolk wonder why the menfolk are not looking forward to theseason ahead. “We don’t know what will happen after the monsoons. Every day wehear only about state closing down mines and center cancelling licenses. Whereare we heading?” says the once farmer now tipper owner.
Little acknowledged by Justice M B Shah Commission and evenless understood by the environmentalists, who have claimed victory in the fightto curb iron ore mining, are lives that rely only on mining- over 22000 trucksand tippers that support as many families and those of cleaners. The valuechain of iron ore does not begin and end with the mine owners and lessees. Ithas a whopping one fifth of Goa’s population directly influenced by mines. Apopulation that has no Plan B in case the mines close.
At Pissurlem, 73 year old Ramnath Krishna Parab wheezesanxiously. This Chovth eve has been anxious and he has not slept since the pastweek. “Baba’s voice box has broken down but we have to wait a little longer toreplace it. Chovth is tomorrow but it is the anxiety that is killing us”, says46 year old Vasudev Parab. Parab’s father broke away from the family traditionof farming as the returns were atrociously low. “We had plenty of land. Whenmining companies gave us enough returns, mining was the way forward” saysVasudev. For Vasudev and a mindboggling 98% of the villagers in mining areas,the cows in the shed were replaced by tippers. The returns were high but sowere the stakes. “We owe to the banks anywhere between Rs 20,000 to Rs. 45,000per month. These are the monsoon months so the losses are factored in. Whathappens once when the dry spell sets in and mining does not start?”, wondersVasudev as the family readies for a reunion with the rest of the clan.
Environment here is a non-issue. If mines were dug, thenswathes of trees too were planted. If mines sullied groundwater, then evensparkling, clean potable water was provided by them. Villagers like Vasudevswear more by the traditional mining companies than the government itself. Andin a classic case of the clock turning full circle, Vasudev dreams of havingthe cows back in his shed. This time to start a dairy “but the future for thefirst time looks clueless to us” he adds.
The womenfolk have been told by their men to tighten theirfists while spending. “This Chovth is not quite likely to end into anotherseason of plenty said my husband”, says Madhavi Parab. Her husband had spokenof breathlessness and was under medical supervision. But a brave Madhavi offers fresh crispneurios, as if she is oblivious of the enormity of the mines closure. The maskfalls moments later “The men just hang around all day clueless as to what willhappen. How can the government leave us in the lurch after raising our hopes?”asks Madhavi, fighting back tears. The Goa government’s mining flip flop didraise the bar of living but left no raised ground under their feet.
The aged and the womenfolk may have their sob-story to tellin a battle hardened mining land, but the men breaking down wasn’t exactly whatAdvalpal’s Mayur Kalangutkar had thought would happen. “Why don’t theseenvironmentalists come to the villages and sit with us. My children wonder whydoes father have so many holidays and why does he not go out?” says Mayursheepishly. The whole village owes its affluence to the mining business. Fromwide roads to free medicare, from quality education to jobs, loans andconfirmed business for their tippers, the mining scene defies the conventionalpicture of a battle ravaged landscape in these areas. But then Goa governmentand centre’s standoff did do one thing. It shook their faith in the trade. “Iwill never let my children get into this trade. I built their future around thefact that they will one day learn here and earn here. If things will be souncertain then they might as well ready themselves for jobs elsewhere”, sayslocal tipper owner President Arjun Gaokar.
As you walk past narrow lanes of the two dozen villages ofsix assembly constituencies of Goa, the scores of trucks and a few tankers hereand there tell a different tale. The battle is far removed from the one beingfought in Panjim, in Delhi, and in newspapers and websites. As Kalangutkar says“The media sits in Panjim and abuses the industry. Why has not a singlereporter come to hear our story? Do they know it all?”
This is a battle more of lives and livelihood. A battle thatyou didn’t factor in, Justice Shah.
