Goa mines: Kids bear the brunt Priyanka Kakodkar Wednesday, November 14, 2007 (Goa)
As India observes Children's Day a hard fact that could well be the shame of the country's beach paradise Goa is a school that is a serious health hazard. NDTV brings you exclusive report from Goa's Sonshi village where children go to a government school right in the middle of a mine. Day in and day out they study there in a cloud of dust and ore. Goa is a major hub of iron mines and exports half the country's ore. But paying the price are thousands of people particularly children living around the mines. It's terrifying enough to walk to the school. But worse is the cloud of dust and ore the children inhale all day. ''The dust goes into their nose, their stomach. Twice a week we have to take them to the doctor,'' said Sharmila Gawde, villager. All across the mining belt villages struggle with dust spewed out by trucks that transport the ore from mines to ports. In this hinterland, the mines are a double-edged sword - one of the few jobs available but a job with hidden costs. ''It is because of the mines that people without qualifications can get jobs,'' said Prakash Gawde, Contractor. Water woes Just a few kilometers away, Pissurlem, a village that's paying the price, get water only through tankers. All the wells have dried up as the mine sucked out ground water. ''When the mines close down, there will be no jobs or water,'' said Tejaswini Gawde, Village Panch. The fields downstream now choked with mining silt, which means there's no going back to farming. This was once a lush paddy field, which grew two crops a year. But now its been reduced to weeds - its fertility killed by the silt flowing down from mining debris. In this classic battle of locals versus industry mine owners argue that they were here first. ''The schools came later. The villages came later. First the mines came and then the village developed,'' said Auduth Timblo Chairman, Sociedade de Fomento. But for the villagers, who now work at the mines, there is no going back to their fields that are now wastelands. http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20070032751&ch=1 1/14/2007%208:56:00%20AM ~(^^)~ Avelino
