Uguem village, which saw a sea change in the development activities during the mining boom, is back on the lookout for agricultural pasture for the villagers to thrive again.
There were times not long ago, when villagers, both youngsters and elders, were largely dependent on the agricultural sector for their living. Villagers were seen heading to their paddy fields and agricultural plantations in the early morning hours and returning back home only after sunset.
But the mining boom, which hit the village between 2007 and 2012, brought a drastic change in the life of the villagers. A large number of villagers shifted to mining from their traditional occupations and began procuring trucks from their hard earned money. The happiness, however, was short-lived. Within a few years, the mining activity came to a standstill following the mining ban and the villagers are now compelled to look back to farming as a major source of livelihood.
Vast tracts of paddy fields, which were closer to the mining area and which were left fallow when mining was in full swing, are brought back to life and the serene greenery has come back to stay at least for another decade.
Things in the village moved fast during the mining period but of late everything has come to a standstill with the quick source of money almost gone forever. Over the last over two years a large number of trucks have already changed hands and the youth sector who once depended on the booming mining activity have begun fleeing to UK and other European countries for better pastures.
Uguem village, though blessed with an Industrial Estate and the Selaulim Dam within its jurisdiction, has not benefitted in any way from either of these projects.
Despite big companies having opened their establishments at the Sanguem Industrial Estate housed at Xelpem ward of Uguem village, employment of the locals at these factories is bare minimum. There is no special consideration for the people from the village at any of these factories. Though the youngsters were eyeing an opening at the factories set up at the Industrial Estate, nothing positive has worked out for the village youth.
More importantly, the panchayat is also not getting any revenue from the huge factories in operation at the Sanguem Industrial Estate as the factories come under the GIDC.
On the contrary, the Industrial Estate has turned out to be a nightmare for the villagers residing at Dabamoll, Cotarli and Xelpem. With no work of road widening being undertaken prior to the housing of the big projects, the huge transportation activity has made the villagers’ life difficult. The huge trailers transporting materials to the factories located at the industrial estate are responsible for the frequent snapping of the electricity cables making the villagers live without power for several hours at a stretch particularly during night time.
Incidentally, with no major source of income and with the panchayat solely depending on the house tax, the infrastructure development in the village is almost zero.
The internal roads in the village, which were constructed decades ago from panchayat funds, are worn out and need immediate face-lift.
