Stir suspended; meet with CM on Tuesday
MAYEM, MAY 21
Residents of Surla-Bicholim stopped mining traffic for the second day in succession, prompting government officials to rush to the site to address their grievances.
Angered that neither government nor mining officials had visited them when they obstructed mining traffic on Thursday, residents continued their agitation for the second day, paralyzing mining traffic along the route.
Deputy Collector Narayan Gad along with Mamlatdar Mr Desai later went to the site and interacted with the protesting villagers.
The government officials agreed to one demand of restricting mining traffic at certain times and have decided to stop mining traffic from plying in the area from 7 pm to 6 am, from 7 am to 8 am and from 1 pm to 2 pm.
Other demands of the villagers like cleaning of the roads, diverting mining traffic along other roads and control of dust pollution have not been accepted by officials as yet.
Speaking to reporters, Vinesh Dhume, who is spearheading the agitation, said the agitation has been temporarily withdrawn till a joint meeting with villagers and mining companies is convened with Chief Minister Digambar Kamat on Tuesday. “Our future course of action will be decided later,” said Dhume.
Meanwhile, local MLA Pratap Gawas, who visited the agitators, highlighted their grievances to the deputy collector and also spoke with the chief minister in this connection.
