BICHOLIM: The Surla gram sabha unanimously demanded that the mining activity be resumed as early as possible.
The gram sabha saw the attendance of Sarpanch Krishna Baikar and panchas Surekha Khodginkar, Anita Kundaikar, Vinita Ghadi, Chandrakant Ghadi, Bhola Khodginkar, Mahendra Shirodkar and Prashant Gaonkar.
At the meeting, villagers demanded that the State government restarts the mining activity as early as possible. They also demanded that mining companies, which have started some other projects in the mining area, provides job opportunities to locals and not the outsiders. The villagers demanded that the compensation of Rs 3 crores, which was approved by mining companies against the losses suffered by farmers, should be released to the farmers without any further delay.
Other issues discussed included bringing about 80 per cent agricultural land from Surla village under cultivation and directing the State government to take due precautions to provide safety to River Mhadei, which is the lifeline of Goa.
