TEAM HERALD
CURCHOREM: Even as the ore transporters began picking up ore stacked from the Cavrem mines as part of the e-auction process, residents from Cavrem-Pirla have opposed the move after being aggrieved that the government had not taken them into confidence.
On Wednesday, the trucks were lined up at Ambaulim village to install the GPS unit on their trucks after registering with the Goa Electronic Limited (GEL), in order to transport the ore from the Cavrem mines.
Anticipating that the trucks would lift the ore, a group of locals rushed to the mines but later returned home as no truck had arrived at the site.
Later in the day, four trucks picked up ore from the Cavrem mines under the watchful eyes of a Quepem police team, to ensure that no untoward incident took place during the ore transportation, a Quepem police official told Herald.
“The ore dumps from the Cavrem mines which were e-auctioned have to be transported within a time-bound manner as per the Supreme Court guidelines. Truck owners are bearing the cost to install the GPS unit and the registration fees of the GEL,” said a transporter, speaking to Herald on condition of anonymity.
Besides trucks, machinery and wheel loaders which will be used on the mines are also expected to install GPS units and the GEL is expected to be notified about the installation of the GPS system.
“The GEL will then send the details to the mines department and the department, in turn, will send the list of the trucks authorized for ore transportation to the auctioneer and the GEL will track the movement of trucks via the GPS tracking system,” the transporter added.
While the resumption of ore transportation has been welcomed by the truck operators, residents of Cavrem are unhappy that the government has not taken them into confidence.
“The government has given permission to the contractor without taking locals into confidence and without informing the panchayat. The government has given permission to transport the ore, we don’t even know the details of the transporters,” said a local youth, Samir Gaonkar.
“We want the contract to be given to local persons and the locals will choose the contractor, else we will not allow transportation of ore from our village,” Gaonkar added.
Speaking to media persons, Sanguem MLA Subhash Phaldessai said that though mining activities will begin in September, the government would first get an opportunity to start ore transportation for a few days.
“This will help the government to check the infrastructure and to see how far the GPS tracking devices are effective. If there is any difficulty in this system, we will get the next four months to put everything in place before mining is started on a larger scale after the monsoon,” said Phaldessai.
“After getting the necessary feedback from these activities, the government will be in a better position to go back to the Supreme Court and state with confidence that it can handle the responsibility given by the Supreme Court,” the MLA added.
“As per the Supreme Court order, it is the responsibility of the State government to provide infrastructure, safety and protection to the bidders,” stated Phaldessai.
He claimed that some vested interests were misguiding the locals and were instigating them to protest on the streets.
“I appeal to the locals to not to get misled and obstruct ore transportation, but to allow the ore to be transported as per the Supreme Court order. If they have any grievances, they can approach the proper forum,” he said.
Commenting on the demands of locals that they should be given the contract to transport the ore, Phaldessai shot back: “Where were they when the government released three advertisements in all the newspapers, asking them to register as transport contractor? One must follow the system and must have all the requirements to become a contractor.”
