With the ban on mining to hit the state next month, the mining dependents especially the workers are faced with the possibility of losing their jobs which did not happened during the last mining shut down.
It may be stated that in a major shutdown of all iron ore mines in Goa, for the second time in six years, the Supreme Court quashed the second renewal of all 88 mines granted by the BJP government in Goa between November 2014 and January 2015 for 20 years with retrospective effect from 2007, in violation of its 2014 order declaring all leases after 2007 as illegal and invalid.
When Herald spoke to the mining dependents most of them felt the mining ban would hit them hard even this time. In Mayem there are in all three mining companies operating with a majority of them dependent on Sesa Goa and Chowgule company while Bandekar mining company is also operational in the area. “We just hope this would not be a total shutdown as we are dependent on mining for our daily bread.” Vishwash Chodankar from Mayem said. Vishwash has his private jeep running for the company. His brother is working in the mining company and he feels that with this shutdown many would be rendered jobless.
“Last time the company had not retrenched many of the workers but we were given half day work and were paid by the company. But this time we don’t know the policy of the company. If the ban remains for a long time they would not keep us employed there without any work” Pradeep Revadkar from Mulgao told.
“Workers and the truck owners are now really in trouble. Even if the situation persists for a year it will severely hit us and our family” said Nilesh Karbotkar who is employed with Sesa Goa. He went on to say “we are just told by the company that the top management would decide upon our fate after March 16.”
People feel that all those dependent upon mining would be severely hit including the hotels in the mining belt, kiosks, businesses and to some extent it would also have an impact on the overall market.
More than Bicholim some of the areas of Surla and Pale would be affected as after the fields from the area got destroyed due to mining most of them are totally dependent upon mines. “There is no other alternative for us in Pale if there is no mining. Some of the NGOs say that the ban would last for minimum of five years and if this happens then we do not have any other option then to commit suicide” Santosh Naik from Bhamai Pale states.
When questioned whether the mining dependents had overcome the losses Naik quickly asks as to what was the need for the government to force them to install GPS, speed governors and increasing the vehicle insurance. “We did all that was told by the government and many of them here have also taken loan against their gold and other property from the banks. All this was done to repair the trucks which were earlier kept idle. With the mining ban how should we repay this loan?” Naik questions.
The secretary of the truck owner’s association in Bicholim, Subhash Kinalkar told that this time the ban would hit them even harder than the earlier one.
“There are many who are directly dependent upon mining in Goa including the truck owners, drivers, labourers, spare part owners and their families. This ban would only resurface the situation which we dealt with in 2012” Subhash Kinalkar told.
He claimed that there are many who have now repaired their vehicles with the hope that they would earn some profit but all their hopes would be dashed out.
“This ban might hit back very seriously as after the first ban many of them had again repaired their trucks by investing whatever they had, but now it will only worsen the situation.” Kinalkar told “there are several who have loans to repay and we don’t know how to survive in such situation. We are now looking forward at the government’s next move to face this situation.”
