l34 residents, including 10 women, arrested on charges of allegedly obstructing transportation of auctioned ore
lVillagers told blocking ore transportation would mean contempt of court order lAgitating residents have accused the government of keeping them in the dark over lifting of the stacked ore lResidents say mining benefits should go to locals and leases must be given to people from respective areas
TEAM HERALD
bureau@herald-goa.com
CURCHOREM: Cavrem continued to remain tense for the second consecutive day, even as Quepem Police on Thursday arrested 34 residents, including 10 women, on charges of allegedly obstructing transportation of auctioned ore stacked at Cavrem mines.
The agitating residents have accused the government of keeping them in the dark over lifting of the stacked ore from the mines and for hiring outside trucks to undertake ore transportation even though they own trucks.
They have been opposing ore transportation activities since Thursday, when four trucks lifted the ore stacked from the Cavrem mines as part of the e-auction process.
When the locals returned to the mining site on Friday, they assured that they would not obstruct ore transportation and even allowed some loaded trucks to move from the site.
They demanded to know why they had not been taken into confidence over the ore transportation and sought details about the transport contractor, while also enquiring about the status of those workers laid off by the management.
“Transportation of ore has been resumed by keeping everybody in the dark, including mine workers and truck operators. We will not obstruct the transportation and break the law, but we need certain clarity on this issue and that is why we are going to meet the company officials,” Cavrem-Pirla Panch Ravindra Velip told media persons before he rushed to the mine along with other locals.
“People have the right to know what is happening in their village and it is not fair to keep them in the dark. The government must take note of this lapse,” he said.
Commenting about their demands, Velip said mining benefits should go to the locals and the leases must be given to the people from the respective areas.
“Many locals had worked to extract this ore stacked in the mine and their services were terminated after the mining ban. Now, when ore is allowed to be transported after e-auctioning, these people must also benefit from this activity,” stated Velip.
Police teams from Quepem, Sanguem, Curchorem and Canacona including the India Reserve Battalion (IRB) and Quick Action Force (QAF), were present at the site to prevent any untoward incident.
Seeking to pacify the agitated locals, Panchwadker requested the locals to put forth their grievances before the appropriate forum for redressal.
The angry residents along with Velip confronted officials and sought to know why representatives of the Directorate of Mines and Goa Electronic Ltd had not been present to monitor the transportation, as stipulated in the permission granted to the auctioneer to transport the ore.
When Panchwadker failed to answer their query, they got irritated and started obstructing the trucks.
Responding to the tense situation, Panchwadker ordered the police to arrest the agitating locals for obstructing the movement of the mining trucks. Police immediately swung into action and detained 34 people.
