Advalpal is a small village in North Goa. The locals have demanded to scrap the public hearing scheduled on March 15, citing that the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report prepared to restart mining activities by Fomento Resources Private Ltd in the village is false. Whether for mining or other projects, none of the EIAs are authentic. This is because the responsibility of preparing such EIA reports is given by the mining company to some private agency, whose officials never visit the proposed project sites. The report is literally prepared by sitting at home and is often based on book knowledge. This results in clashes. However, people do not collect enough evidence to counter the EIA report during public hearings, and the fight goes limp.
Actually, every village must have a bio diversity committee which should be active. However, such committees don’t exist in many villages. Hence, people raise their voices and fight for their rights based on the false information, but their protests are not registered.
The EIA report for Advalpal mine is prepared by Mineral Engineering Services from Bellary, Karnataka. The report states that there will be no displacement of people, hence there is no question of rehabilitation. However, houses exist in the survey numbers mentioned in the report, and people have been staying there for so many years. Most of the Goan mines are already given on lease. Houses must have been built some 20-25 years ago within or near such mining blocks. It is a serious concern if these houses were not included in the EIA report because they were not mentioned in the earlier leases. This is like ignoring or rejecting the existence of people staying there.
This is the main reason why people have demanded cancelling of public hearings. Also, people have claimed that information pertaining to biodiversity, paddy and other sources of livelihood is either false or misleading. There is no mention of rare species of plants and animals from the locality in the said report. Hence the villagers, during the gram sabha held on Sunday, have demanded to scrap the report and cancel the public hearing. This has raised several questions such as how many mining projects will be forced on Goa? Does Goa have the potential to endure more mining? Is there a need to find alternatives for mining and prepare new models for employment generation?
Villages like Advalpal have already been devastated by mining. Water resources of several villages have been destroyed. It has taken a toll on the environment in these areas. In such a situation, a committee appointed by the Parrikar government in its report that was submitted six years ago, had suggested alternatives for employment generation. Suggestions such as involving women’s groups into supplying authentic Goan food to tourists and also providing accommodation to them was mentioned in the report. But as usual, the report never saw the light of day. Whenever the government aims and speaks of atmanirbharta or self-sufficiency, it must ensure that people should not become self-sufficient at the cost of destroyed and devastated villages. If atmanirbhar farmers like Sanjay Patil are recognised by being bestowed the Padmashree, their suggestions for self-sufficiency or atmanirbharata should also be given a serious thought. Such solutions must be considered while deciding development policies and framing government schemes.
The residents of villages that are destroyed by mining must display maturity and choose their own model for sustainable development. Such issues must be discussed in gram sabhas. Unfortunately, the young generation which is interested in making quick money, has in the bargain turned its back to nature, environment, water, forests, etc, and these are not considered as important. Apparently, such a divide benefits the capitalists and politicians, and they successfully take forward the projects even though the EIA reports are baseless or false. Villages like Advalpal must learn a lesson that it is not always right to dig a well when thirsty. It is not going to entirely serve the purpose. Expert opinions must be sought and the villages must be prepared to fight honestly and unitedly till the end. The clock is ticking and not much time remains.
