TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: Independent candidate Adv Dayanand Narvekar contesting from North Goa for the Lok Sabha seat on the Kite symbol, has said he has toured the mining affected areas of Pale, Usgaon, Kothambi, Velguem and surrounding villages in Sanquelim constituency.
Narvekar said that the people in the mining belt are suffering financial woes due to the closure of mining. He said, “People now feel the acute impact of mining closure after one year. The saturation point has come which shows that whatever is happening is a bad thing.”
He said after speaking courageously against the people in power, the support from the mining belt is swelling in his favour. He said the greed of the Congress to make illegal money and BJP’s greed of trying to milk the issue for their own electoral gains have left the people in this belt suffering with no end in sight.
“As Leader of Opposition the current CM made big statements that the guilty will be brought to justice no matter who they are. Till date we have seen only the small foot soldiers that have been taken into custody while the main perpetrators enjoy their lavish lifestyles. In the meantime the financial condition of the mining affected people is deteriorating daily and if this continues there will be suicides in the mining belt, for which the Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar alone would be responsible.”
He said, “I will get a one-time financial package from the Centre for these people so that their loans can be paid by the Centre. It’s a small liability which can be cleared in one go by the Centre,” Narvekar said.
He said the State government’s announcement of restarting of mining after the Supreme Court order is a clear bluff. “We don’t have a mechanism in place to monitor the extraction of iron ore. We need a minimum of 100 mining inspectors equipped with the latest communication and monitoring devices. There should also be computerized monitoring of the trucks through GPS. Technology should be used to keep a check on ore from the point of extraction to point of export, he said.
“The Union government is yet to revoke the suspension on the Environment Clearances. Also we are waiting the report from TERI. We have to take into consideration NEERI report and its suggestions,” Narvekar said.
“My question to the BJP-led State government is very straightforward. If Subrato Roy of the Sahara India Group can languish in jail for Rs 10,000 crore, why can’t Goa’s former chief minister Digambar Kamat of the Congress party be jailed for the Rs 35,000 crore mining scam and the money recovered from him? The Goa government needs to answer this question to the people of Goa, demanded Narvekar.
