PONDA: Over one thousand mining dependents attended a meeting at Usgao, on Thursday, where Goa Mining People’s Front (GMPF) leader Puti Gaonkar declared that the BJP-led governments at the Centre and in the State are not willing to find a solution to resume mining in Goa.
He said that the BJP was only giving false promises on commencing mining, belying a hidden agenda.
Alleging that the BJP is playing with the livelihood of over three lakh mining dependents, Gaonkar said, “Now it’s time to teach this government a lesson” by working against the BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
To express their anger and resentment against the BJP, Gaonkar said that a bandh has been called in the mining belt on February 26.
Accusing the Goa government of doing nothing to restart mining after the Supreme Court order of February 7, 2018, Gaonkar alleged that, to mislead the mining dependents, now BJP leader Pramod Sawant and MGP leader Deepak Dhavalikar are talking about auctioning of mining or forming a corporation to run the mining industry.
Gaonkar asserted that the BJP has no intention to commence the mining. “But if the Congress had been in power with Digambar Kamat as chief minister, he would have found immediate solution to restart mining,” he speculated.
He argued that since the surface right of mining leases in Goa remain with private owners and not with government it is difficult to auction leases.
“If the government acquires land, then, it will have to pay four times the market rate to land owners which the government would not do,” he said.
Therefore, he said, the only way to restart mining is to amendment the Goa Concession and Abolition Act, 1987.
Accusing all the three Goa MPs of being ineffective in finding a solution to the mining crisis, Gaonkar said that in a meeting with the mining dependents in Delhi, BJP leader Amith Shah had suggested a solution for restarting mining and asked the three BJP MPs to follow up on the suggestion, “but these three MPs did nothing on it.”
Addressing the meeting, former BJP MLA and minister Ramesh Tavadkar said that the BJP government “is insensitive to the problems and issues of Goans.” He warned that, “If this continues, it will force the locals to become Naxalites to get their issues solved.”
The meeting was also attended by Goa Suraksha Manch leader Subash Velingkar and Shiv Sena leader Rakhi Naik.
