Allege actual ore at Kadnekar mines differs from measured amounts
Demand inquiry and action against deputy collector, police inspector and officials of mines department
TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: Cavrem villagers have alleged that the actual ore at Kadnekar mines differs from the measured amounts by quite a lot and demanded an inquiry and action against deputy collector Quepem, Quepem police inspector and officials of the mines department.
They also alleged that the transportation of the e-auctioned ore from Kadnekar mines is not transparent.
The villagers in a complaint filed with the chief minister and police inspector, Quepem have alleged that there was large scale transportation of iron ore in violation of the law in force.
In a press conference held Saturday Cavrem Pirla panch Ravindra Velip along with his fellow villagers alleged that the government had not involved the village in the transportation and when they had peacefully gone to ask them what was happening, they, including all women and a 85 year old man, were arrested. They were not told why they were arrested and kept without food and water for the day and night, they alleged.
“We had gone peacefully to ask what was happening. But we were confronted by a large police force. It included the IRB, special force…. Without any reason the police picked people up,” Velip alleged, adding that when we asked the police why they were arrested theme there was no reply.
He said that because of this they refused to leave the jail when they were released and insisted that they should be informed the grounds on which they were arrested.
According to the sequence of events narrated by villagers, they were arrested at around 11 am on May 8 and spent the night in jail. On May 9 they were produced before the SDM.
According to the villagers, the deputy collector, Quepem, PI Ram Asare and DySP Subash Goltekar were pressurizing them to back down, probably in a bid to allow illegal mining in some way or the other.
The complaint by the villagers has alleged that the transportation of ore is also in violation of provision 3.7 of the Goa Mining Policy 2013, which mandates the presence of a mining inspector during transportation.
