The Supreme Court decision to ban mining leases in Goa because of mining leases, renewed by the BJP government in 2015, benefitting the leaseholders, and the subsequent protest by the mining-dependent are indeed issues that need quick attention.
That mining has been the backbone of the Goan economy is a fact. Mining has affected thousands of Goans, not just the mining-dependent. It goes without saying that the mining lobby has been close to whatever government has been in power because it possesses great financial power. Political parties depend on the largesse of the miners who, in turn, depend on the patronage of the government of-the-day.
Mining has spurned ancillary industries, especially transport. Before the SC ruling, one could see hundreds of trucks carrying ore to the ports and other centres while barges carrying these precious ore were seen plying the Mandovi. Mining has been synonymous with Goa, much more than mining in other parts of the country
Understandably, mining has caused deep wounds on the geographical landscape of Goa as much as it has caused wounds in the hearts and minds of those who want to keep Goa serene and pristine in its natural beauty. Considering this aspect, it’s not right of the mining-dependent to hold Goa Foundation, the NGO which filed the complaint against mining in the SC, guilty of taking the issue to the highest court.
I saw some video clips on the protest over the mining ban and heard some people denouncing Claude Alvares, the man who founded Goa Foundation, which has been a thorn in the side of the governments in power. The incumbent government has no love lost for it. It’s no wonder that the government was furious at the challenge to its policy regarding mining. The ban also raised the ire of the miners who are alleged to be the sponsors of the protest. Thus, mining has become a double-edged sword.
I haven’t visited the deep corners of the state where mining has taken its toll. But I have seen videos, and one in which Claude explains to a correspondent on the effects of mining. I saw Aleesha, the movie, and how the character is moved to do something good after seeing the destruction mining has caused in the land.
True, the plight of the land should wake up the conscience of the mine owners and they must do much more charitable work, first of all clearing up the mess, filling up the huge craters, keep the mining waste from running into rivers and water bodies. Then comes doing social work or giving money to charitable organisations that are doing worthwhile work in areas of children’s sickness, the aged and those ill from the side-effects of open-cast mining.
Having read Eat Dust: Mining and Greed in Goa, by Hartman de Souza, I realise the deep effects of mining. It’s indeed greed that has consumed Goa’s rich mineral heritage. Mining takes places in many countries, including my adopted country, Canada. Earlier this month, a delegation, led by India’s Minister of Rural Development, Panchavati Raj and Mines, Narendra Singh Tomar, came to discuss collaboration between the two countries in the mining sector.
He told a trade show that mining sector is a priority area for the Indian government, and that new technologies will bring further transparency and better monitoring in the sector. Painting a rosy picture of the future in a foreign land is fine, but the minister should have also spelled out the cost to the natural, ecological and environmental areas of the country.
Along with mining, there’s tourism which is of great concern to the future of the children, in particular. The coastal ecology has been transformed to such an extent that the appearance of the area is now different from that ages ago. Change is inevitable but change must take place in a controlled environment. Goa has seen random tree-cutting and monstrous buildings on hilltops. The once virgin beaches and hills and the mountain-plateaus are carelessly made into concrete jungles.
The speed of urbanisation is so much that cities in Goa will be pock-marked by buildings of monstrous sizes. Reading of the government’s plan for a “New Panaji” makes me wonder if ordinary Goans will have a place in it or will it be the exclusive enclave of the noveau-riche and the money-bags from Delhi. I know Goans are agitated with the influx of outsiders and the helping hand given to a particular group of people by a MLA. No doubt it raises one’s eyebrows. Inland migration cannot be stopped legally and Goans will have to live by it.
Some years ago when I was in Goa and went for a picnic of ex-college mates of St. Xavier’s, Mumbai, I was in one of the beaches in North Goa, probably Calangute, and I asked a pointed question to Claude Alvares regarding manifestation of hotels on the seashores of Goa, some hotels defying laws. He said it’s a hard battle but it must be fought. The mining lease ban is the outcome of waging a sustained fight for saving Goa for generations to come.
(Eugene is a senior journalist who worked for The Hindu, and the Free Press Journal)
