Team Herald
Ponda: The mining business which was known as the back-bone of Goa’s economy has shut down affecting workers, truck and machinery owners and others associated with it plunging them into deep financial crisis.
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Deprived of their daily bread, mining affected have once again returned to their traditional occupation of farming.
Due to the ban on mining, the air pollution which was caused because of the heavy transportation has cleared on its own making it a healthy environment for farming. The problem of water shortage however is an obstacle.
The abundance of water which gets stored in the mining trenches during every monsoon and lies unused and could be supplied to the fields easily will easy boost agriculture in mining belts, say villagers.
The government has not taken decisions regarding the water that gets accumulated in these trenches for years. Around 3-4 years ago, water from these trenches was released into the Dudhsagar river to increase the water level of Opa Water Works which had dropped down. However since then nothing has been done.
The young farmers in the mining belts such as Dharbandora are producing cabbage, tomatoes, watermelons, chillies, carrots and other vegetables and if the water accumulated in the trenches is supplied to their farms through pumps, it could be put to ideal use. There are sugarcane plantations as well in the taluka, a crop which requires constant watering.
