Team Herald
PANJIM: Bench of Bombay High Court in Goa taking a dig at the Goa Government for not providing proper drinking water facilities to mining-affected families of Sonshi village has directed it to submit affidavit providing details on the money sanctioned and utilised for the project.
High Court has also shown antipathy over storing of drinking water in the unhygienic tanks in Sonshi.
The High Court sought to know from the Government the status of water pipeline connections to mining-affected families of Sonshi.
It may be recalled that the State government in October 2017 had submitted that the laying of water pipeline was in process and within 45 days the work will be completed. But, till now (March) the water pipeline has not been laid.
Court had directed to complete the work of laying pipeline within two months and till then to supply 650 litres of potable water to all the families daily.
The directions came after the court observed that the petition filed by NGO ‘Goa Foundation’ is of very serious nature related to various issues of mankind including the issue of drinkable water.
The petitioner NGO informed the court that the total amount available till date in the two district foundations is Rs 140 crore and not a single rupee has been spent on the welfare of persons and communities in mining-affected villages.
Following the directions on Monday, by the Tuesday evening, the PWD commenced the supply of water storage tanks to the villagers.
The Goa Foundation had filed a PIL on behalf of all Sonshi families, 99% from the tribal community. The petition seeks Rs 50 lakh per family as compensation for damage to health, besides punitive damages for crossing statutory air pollution limits, and exemplary damages so that such atrocities are not repeated.
The claim has been made against the nine mining companies and the Goa Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) which failed to act.
The PIL argued that the families in the village do not have to prove medical damage, since the statute itself has been notified on the grounds that exceeding it will cause damage to health.
In most cases, impact of air pollution will only emerge after a couple of years. Such air pollution severely compromises the health especially of children, PIL states.
According to the petition, 1200 trucks made a total number of 16,000 trips through the village road.
Sonshi is surrounded by 13 mining leases belonging to nine mining leaseholders. Mining has destroyed bulk of agriculture in the village, including cashew and coconut plantations, and water sources.
The PIL has asked for implementation of the District Mineral Foundation Scheme laid down under the Mines and Minerals Act.
It states that during the last mining season (during which the pollution breached norms); the lessees extracted 73.5 lakh tonnes of ore valued at Rs 782.5 crore.
The petition has pleaded that court follow directions given in the Supreme Court’s judgement on Odisha mining and direct recovery of this entire sum (100% recovery) from the leaseholders.
In another matter dealing with mining affected villagers from Shirgao, the High Court has directed the Director of Settlement and Land Records and the mining companies to demarcate the paddy fields of the villagers, which were submerged in mining silt for several years.
The villagers have demanded restoration of their fields so that they can commence paddy cultivation in the coming monsoon.
