Far from the spotlight, environmental issues impact lives of the poor --------------------------------------------------------------------- ENVIRONMENT DAY SPECIAL: MINING IN INTERIOR GOA ---------------------------------------------------------------------
By Frederick Noronha PANJIM, June 5: It's a hot Indian summer in village of Muskaorem, and the woes of a delayed monsoon is aggravated by the lack of pre-monsoon showers. But nature's mind is aggravated by man's actions: mining is sucking dry this once water-rich region. "First we had a lot of water. For the past 2-3 years, since the mines dug deeper down in the village we're having shortages. Mining has gone to a deeper level; our wells remain on top. Some 25-30 wells have gone dry," says Ram Gaonkar (32) of this remote area under the Rivona panchayat in Sanguem. Sanguem is Goa's largest taluka. It lies remotely tucked-away in south-east Goa, unseen by most visitors to this touristic state. Sanguem comprising nearly one-fourth of the state's entire territory. But its forest and mining resources have been exploited, with little benefit going to the area. Nearby, long stretches of the Kushavati river are completely dry. "If the motors (pumps) of the mines are shut down on a Saturday-Sunday, then one can see a little flow on a Monday," say villagers. In Pissurlem, a tiny village located at one extreme end of Sattari taluka in north-east Goa, faces similar problems. "There are 30 wells in the village, and not even one has water. Many run dry by February," says Hanumant Parab (27), a B.Com graduate who points to the problems in the area. Mining 'rejects' -- the lower-grade ore which mine-owners don't find viable to export -- spill over into local fields. "For seven to eight years, in a large field in the village, we've not even grown one crop, in fields where we earlier grew two crops," says Parab. Bereft of their water and fields, the villagers have got a raw deal. "I'm fighting five to six cases (for campaigning on the adverse impacts of mining) in the Valpoi court," informs Parab. Others complain of the dust in their temple, diseases like TB due to polluted air, and the loss of grazing grounds for cattle. Ignored by officials, forgotten by the state, overlooked by tourists, the fate of those paying the price of Goa's export-oriented mining economy is a difficult one indeed. It seems most of Goa is not aware of their plight; even for environmentalists, this is either too remote or rather unfashionable an issue to be tackled. Says Sonu Arjun Gawade, an elderly villager: "First we had 'borpur' (plenty) water. Our 'tollem' (village pond) never dried for generations. If this carries on for some more time, people won't be able to even live here." Pissurlem has been into mining for over five decades, having started in the early 'fifties. Mechanisation and deeper mining has meant villagers feel the impact more strongly now. Outside the homes of Pissurlem villagers, large drums play the role of wells. Every day, tankers bring in water that is barely sufficient to meet their needs. One local politician, seeing a group of visitors peering into empty wells, asks a one-word question: "Environmental?" Explains Vassudev, another villager: "To remove the (deep-lying) ore, they use big pumps to get out the water. Sometimes 200-300 horse-power pumps are used. Very few people get jobs... that too temporarily. Our Pissurlem is already finished." "In our younger days we could swim for free in our 'tollem' (pond). Can we afford swimming pools for our children?", asks he. This story -- of water vanishing -- gets repeated at Tollem or Zori in Dandolem, and at other points nearby. "Goribachem konn ikota? (Who listens to the poor?)," asks one villager. But in some areas, villagers persistence managed to get some mining pumps shut down. Villagers have taken a dispute over the Advoi nallah to the courts. This connects to the Madei river, over which so many tears are shed when threatened by Karnataka but the problem is overlooked when someone in Goa is the culprit. Researchers point out that mining in Goa is basically open cast type with typical bench and slope configuration. Today, the maximum area under mining lease is in Sanguem taluka followed by Bicholim, Satari, Quepem and Ponda. Goa's Mandovi river and its tributaries, for the most part, pass through regions of extensive mining activity -- mainly iron and manganese ore. Goa University department of marine sciences and biotechnology's G N Nayak has noted that there are 27 major mines within the Mandovi basin. This river provides a cheap and effective means of transport of iron ore from the hinterland to Marmugao harbour and banks of its tributaries lined with mineral materials, loading platform, beneficiation plants, ore stores, massive dumps of rejects, particularly in the upper estuarine regions. Some villagers have a love-hate relationship with mining. Their fields and village economy destroyed, they have little option but to ply mining trucks. Some ask for their fields back to work on, saying this would offer them a more permanent source of income. Others point out that they asked the mining firms to give them the water pumped out from their mines. But they latter won't, because, the villagers believe, they would one day like to mine under their fields too. (ENDS) ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################
