Resumption of mining: The only promise that voters from South Goa’s Sanguem want from parties

Panaji: Voters in Goa’s Sanguem assembly constituency are far from impressed despite the high-pitched rhetoric of political parties ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. They want these parties to make just one promise: the resumption of mining.

A part of the South Goa parliamentary constituency, Sanguem is currently represented in the legislative assembly by BJP MLA Subhash Phal Desai. It has around 24,000 voters.

“Mining activity has stopped across Goa since 2012 and the locals of Sanguem were the worst sufferers,” said Rajanikant Naik, who owns a truck.

The ban on iron ore mining has severely affected the lives of the people, said Naik, who is also a former secretary of the Goa Pradesh Congress Committee.

“There is no other source of income in this constituency than mining,” he said.

Residents of Sanguem were into farming before the mining industry established its roots. “Now, after the mining ban, people tried to get back to their farms, but they can't earn a livelihood due to several factors,” he said.

When candidates arrive this time seeking votes ahead of Lok Sabha elections, he said, “The first assurance we want from them is that they will restart mining as soon as possible.” Lok Sabha polls will be held in Goa in a single phase on May 7 and votes will be counted on June 4. Of the two parliamentary constituencies in the state, the BJP won the North Goa seat in 2019, while the Congress bagged South Goa.

Iron ore mining in Goa was banned in 2012 over alleged illegalities and tax evasion. It briefly resumed in 2018 but was stopped by the Supreme Court in a few months.

Local resident Amey Naik said he associated himself with the mining industry in 2012, little knowing that the activity would come to a grinding halt in just a few months.

“I purchased a truck hoping to eke out a living from the mining industry. To my bad luck, mining was stopped a few months later,” he said.

Amey claims there were signs of resumption of mining last year when already-extracted iron ore e-auctioned by the government was being transported to jetties for loading on ships for exports.

"When the mining transporter said that the business was going to start, I spent Rs 1 lakh to repair the truck and get pollution, insurance and road tax documents in place,” he said.

“Business was there for hardly a month before it stopped. I spent Rs 1 lakh (on the truck) and earned Rs 48,000. It was a total loss,” said Amey.

He said mining resumption should be a priority and only those candidates assuring it will get the support of voters from Sanguem.

Sandeep Mapari, a correspondent with a local newspaper and an entrepreneur, said the assurances about the resumption of mining in the past were fake.

“People don’t want mining to resume in phases. They want it to start immediately,” he said.

He said the Sanguem constituency, home to Goa's biggest reservoir Selaulim dam, is suffering because of the sacrifice it made to fulfil the drinking water requirement of the coastal state.

Mapari said those villagers who were displaced for the construction of the Selaulim dam are currently facing a shortage of drinking water. “There cannot be a bigger irony than this,” he said, adding that several times, the issue was raised through various platforms, but there was no solution.

Local activist Jerwis Fernandes said that people have a single demand before the government that mining should be resumed. “People don't want welfare schemes providing monthly doles. People are ready to work and earn. Let the mining restart,” he added.