Goans dig deep to stay afloat

As lawmakers in mineral-rich Goa hotly debate the uncontrolled mining in the state's rural landscape, residents of a village near Panaji have changed their occupation from farmers to truck owners or mine workers to survive and thrive in the new scenario.

Tucked in the hillocks, the village, Soliem in North Goa's Sattari taluka, is home to 300-odd members of the `Gawade' community. This population from the economically weaker section had tilled their lands since ages.

"The offers (from mining firms) were tempting so we could not resist them. Anyway, farming had become an unviable proportion for us," Rama Gawade, in his 50s, said.

Soliem is amongst the many locales which have changed their profile from agro (mainly paddy) to mining economy. The village, surrounded by mines, is rich in iron ore, which is exported to several countries, including China.

Walk through the village, and cluster of houses and the noise of trucks attract your attention.

"The villagers are no longer farmers. Earlier almost all were dependent on farming to eke out their living. Now, they are truck owners or work on the mines," Ankush Gaonkar, the local sarpanch (village head), said.

"The village houses three mines. We have heard that permission for three more mining leases is pending with the government. At such a pace, entire village will have to be shifted," Sham Sakhalkar, a local, said.

The road connecting the village to the nearest town is dotted with heaps of mining rejects, many of which have turned into mini hillocks. The cashew plantation is disappearing and the paddy fields are getting barren with no one to till them.

It was not an easy task for the mining firms to percolate into the lives of the Gawda community listed among the `other backward classes'.

"There were initial protests. Around 100-odd people were detained when they resisted the truck moment in their village," Hanumant Parab, an anti-mining activist, said.

But nothing happened after that as the protests died down soon and it was business as usual, he said.

The mining biggies, including Sesa Goa, Chowgules and Keny Mines, have set their plants in and around Soliem with hundreds of trucks ferrying the ore from here to barges, which is later shifted to bigger ships.

Even though Soliem residents have given up their green lands to the mining firms, the people residing downstream Chirewal locality raised a banner of protest as the silt started accumulating in their betel-nut farms.

Memorandums were submitted to the Agriculture...

http://www.financialexpress.com/news/goansdigdeeptostayafloat/598642/