CLAUDE ALVARES: RAILWAY LINE INSERTED IN RP TO ELIMINATE TRUCKSThursday - Nov
24, 2011
PANJIM: Though the mining companies in Goa used mining truckers for their
pro-mining agitation in Panjim on Tuesday, the companies are planning the
truckers' demise in the state, Goa Foundation director Claude Alvares said on
Wednesday. Addressing mediapersons, Alvares said a railway line was inserted
into the Goa Regional Plan 2021 (RP 2021) just 15 days prior to its
notification without consulting any authorities like the railway board, the
Indian Bureau of Mines, etc. Alvares said the railway line of about 20 km is
proposed from Codli mines to Santona (Kalem) jetty in order to eliminate 7,500
truck trips per day. The railway line will cater to the two biggest mining
companies in Goa - Sesa Goa and Fomento, he said. Alvares said although mining
companies knew the production limits and permissions they had to adhere to,
"greed induced them to violate mining and environmental regulations, while
government sat by, watched and did nothing". Estimating that mining companies
have done illegal mining in Goa to the tune of 25,000 crore in the past decade,
Goa Foundation stated it is legally and morally binding on the companies and
lease owners to comply with a few proposals from the NGO he heads. The first is
that companies should employ for at least one year in the mandatory
rehabilitation work required on the mining sites, all those who may be thrown
out of work due to mining shutdown. The second is to reimburse the bank
installments (balance EMIs) of persons who took loans for the purchase of
trucks, barges and other mining equipment for at least the next one year. The
third is for the mining companies to rehabilitate the environment that has been
destroyed due to the large-scale illegal mining.Alvares said that since the
mining companies have not invested any money in mining trucks and equipment,
they can just shut shop and leave Goans who invested fortunes in trucks, barges
and other mining equipment to fend for themselves and their bank loans. Alvares
cited the example of Vedanta Resources. He said that this company owns Sesa Goa
but is registered in London. Its chairman Anil Agarwal lives in London and has
no responsibility to Goans or the Goan environment, Alvares said. Giving an
example of the extent of profits by mining companies, Alvares said, "Sesa Goa
India's annual report states that it sold 20.4 million tonnes of ore in 2010-11
for 8,387 crore. In other words, nearly one third of the total iron ore export
from Goa belonged to Sesa Goa. Net profit after tax as declared by the company
for the same year is a whopping 4,222 crore. The income of the Goa government
for the same year from all sources was 4,290 crore and the total budget of the
Goa government in 2010-11 was 6,000 crore," Alvares said. – TNN
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