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The Accidental Activist - Strip Mining is Not 'Farming' Mr Timblo
By Venita Coelho
Auduth Timblo's defence of the mining industry ( Herald dated 16th Jan ) was
captioned "mineral farming brings health and employment." I beg to differ from
this
viewpoint.
Mr. Timblo you were careful to not use the term 'mining' since, as you said, it
"literally means work carried out in a mine". I wonder why you didn't use the
exact
technical term for what you are doing; strip mining. Mining that strips off
trees,
greenery, rich top soil and layers of earth below that. Mining that strips the
earth
bare.
Farming grows and nurtures food. The land is used in a manner that sustains
lives
year after year. Strip mining, on the other hand strips down forests, destroys
water
resources and leaves barren devastation in its wake. You ask "dare I use the
term
mineral farming". If I were you, I wouldn't dare to try and give mining a green
spin
by equating it with farming.
You talk with cheer of "winning the mineral". Unfortunately there are losers as
well. The people who live in the villages that are in proximity to mining
areas, the
forests of Goa, the environment of Goa, and the water resources of our state.
The
Regional Plan 2021 itself scathingly indicts your industry, pointing out that
mining
needs to be reviewed "in the context of long term environment damage being
caused
with relatively limited economic benefit to the state". Here are the facts.
Manufacturing contributes 25% to the GDP of Goa and uses 2% of its land mass.
In
contrast, mining uses 8% of Goa's land mass and contributes only 4% to the
state's
GDP. It's time for Goa to ask ; is it worth it? And if you listen to the roar
from
the villages affected by mining the answer is a resounding "no".
You further state that "it is well established" that "these (mining activities)
and
other streams converge to give us labour saving devices, creature comforts,
longevity and other benefits that we crave in modern times."
What mining in Goa has given us is 40 mines operating in forest areas. It has
given
us floods in Bicholim. It has given us a destroyed Kushavati river. It has
given us
paddy crops ruined by slurry washed from mining dumps of several mining
companies.
It has given us damaged water bodies and stripped forests.
What we need and crave is clean water, clean air and a clean environment. Air
thick
with ore dust cuts down longevity. Water contaminated with ore slurry leads to
a
host of ailments. Farmland that has been silted leads to people starving
because
they have lost their means of livelihood.
You say "environmental costing" is now built into the industry. Then why do
mining
companies leave abandoned mines as they are without replanting the forests they
destroyed? When a Supreme Court order forces them to replant they quickly use
Australian acacia - a fast growing and damaging option that is wholly alien to
the
Goan ecosystem.
You point out that "it is possible to reduce the workforce engaged in the
mineral
sector in Goa by 60 to 70 percent." No one is agitating for you to stop
employing
people. We are agitating for you and the mining lobby to do business with a
conscience. Not to make money at the expense of our farmers, our land and our
health. Not to snatch the right to life of settled communities as the High
Court of
Bombay in Goa has pointed out. Indeed the right to life of communities settled
for
several hundred years.
You claim "education, health and the equitable distribution of wealth is
synonymous
with mineral development for over 100,000 families in Goa." Did you count the
families that are currently struggling to survive in Rivona and Uguem because
their
standing crop was ruined by slurry? The Timblos themselves have been ordered by
the
High Court to deposit money as compensation for the damage caused to the crops
of
Surla village.
Here are a few simple statistics that underline the problem. Goa constitutes
only
about 1% of the land mass of India. Yet it exports about 35% of its ore. The
quantity of our yearly export is 33,000,000 tons - several large sized hills.
For
each tonne of ore that is 'won', three tonnes are wasted and discarded. So
99,000,000 tonnes of misplaced and barren soil is dumped indiscriminately. This
material leaches into water bodies, silting them and playing havoc with
ecosystems
and marine life. The Mandovi is estimated to carry 2,00,000 metric tonnes of
this
sediment every year.
You are kind enough to admit that in a few cases "commercial greed overtakes
concern
for others". Unfortunately it is not a few cases, the industry itself is built
on
greed. It is an industry that strips the earth for short term gain and for the
enrichment of an elite few. Several reports point out that the profits from
mining
in Goa are more than negated by the ecological costs of damages inflicted by
mining.
The Government itself earns over Rs 200 crore a year and yet, spends little or
nothing on repairing damage to ecological assets.
You and your family have been in the industry for over thirty years and you
write in
defence of your livelihood and your name. If today village after village is
standing
up to mining it is in defence of their livelihood. Your name is obviously of
great
value to you. Therefore you have chosen to sue Seby Rodrigues, the anti mining
activist, for Rs 500 crore for what he mentions on his blog about your company,
Fomento. But what about Seby's name? Your Vice President of Corporate
Communications, Sujay Gupta, did his best to have Seby labelled a Naxalite on
behalf
of your company some months ago. That falsehood led to red faces in the
administration and among the opposition. The same Sujay Gupta is named as
guarantor
for the court case against Seby - incredibly filed at the Calcutta High Court.
And
yet every Sunday we get to read about how much Mr. Gupta loves Goa and how glad
he
is that he lives here. This is much in the same vein as you saying that "Goa is
home". Does your home deserve to be stripped, gutted, its air polluted, its
water
contaminated?
Your attempt has been to paint the Timblos as the 'good guys' in mining. Good
guys
don't launch vindictive suits for astronomical sums against dirt poor activists
who
are helping people fight for their very survival.
Certainly there are bad guys in mining. Your love for Goa would be better
demonstrated if you concentrated your efforts on self regulation within the
industry
that would help weed these out. Since your family has been around for thirty
years
in this business and owes its fortune to it, surely it is your duty to lead in
this
respect? Your Rs 500 crore would be better spent in rehabilitating land that
the
mining lobby has stripped and left bare. That sum can buy a lot of saplings.
That
sum can protect a lot of lives.
Dare I say it - you yourself would do far better for looking the problem
straight in
the eye and calling it by name instead of soft peddling it as "mineral
farming".
Strip mining is exactly that. And that is the problem.
Those wishing to support Seby Rodrigues can sign an online petition at
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/sue4000/petition.html
(ENDS)
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The above article appeared in the January 20, 2009 edition of the Herald, Goa
