Team Herald
BICHOLIM: The impasse over iron ore transportation in Bicholim taluka finally ended on Saturday with Vedanta Sesa Goa agreeing to stop operating 12-wheeler trucks hired by it.
With this development, iron ore transportation in the taluka, which was halted for three days, will now resume from February 3.
The decision was taken during a meeting in the office of Bicholim MLA Dr Chandrakant Shetye. Mayem MLA Premendra Shet, Bicholim Truck Owners Association president Rajaram ‘Satish’ Gaonkar, Vedanta Sesa officials Abhinav Gupta, Dheeraj Kumar, Milind Barve, truck owners and others were present.
The ore transportation was stopped from Thursday after truckers protested against the company’s decision to hire 12-wheeler trucks to transport rejected ore.
After the meeting, Satish Gaonkar said that they have agreed to restart transportation from Monday after company assured them that it will stop trucks hired by them through a contractor.
Gaonkar said, “We will now transport ore from the mining block as well as the rejected ore from Monday. Though it was stated that it would be on trial basis for next 10 to 12 days, we are of the firm opinion that the Bicholim Truck Owners’ Association will transport the ore from both the sites and will not allow any
outsiders.”
In a statement, the Vedanta Sesa Goa stated that all issues have been amicably resolved in a consultative manner. “Vedanta Sesa Goa prioritises the interests of the local community and in order to compensate for the restriction in number of trips for transportation of ore, it is being initiated on a trial basis to facilitate the TOA (Truck Owners' Association) to transport overburden,” it said, welcoming the resumption of ore transportation.
Meanwhile, a miscellaneous civil application filed by the Vedanta Limited seeking permission to transport ore from Matwada-Pilgao Junction to Sarmanas Jetty will come up for hearing before the High Court of Bombay at Goa on Tuesday, February 4.
The villagers of Pilgao have objected to ore transportation from Matwada junction claiming that it is their private tenanted property and they have blocked the portion of the road. The villagers have alleged that the government without considering it granted permission to the mining company.
According to the villagers, they had also filed a petition before the District Court, Panjim praying to revoke the permission granted to the company and it is pending.
After the villagers objected to the ore transportation through Matwada junction, the government gave transit permission to the company to use the main road.