Mining Cos destroying Mayem lake and fields, allege striking farmers
VISHANT VAZE, BICHOLIM | 16 November 2015 23:00 IST
The barge owners and truck owners were paid compensation after mining was banned since 2012, but not the farmers whose fields are destroyed by the mining companies.
And one of these companies, Sesa Sterile, is heading towards destroying the picturesque Mayem Lake, one of the tourist attractions of Goa, it is alleged.
As a result, over 100 farmers from Mayem village have now come on roads since three powerful mining companies have simply defied the government orders to pay them compensation for five long years now.
Sesa, Chowgules and Bandekar - the three mining companies of Goa - have simply decided not to follow the order of Bicholim Mamlatdar, to pay compensation to these farmers since 2011.
The aggrieved farmers, under the banner of Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Sabha, staged a demonstration today at the Bicholim gate of mining companies.
“The silt of mined iron ore has filled our fields, making it useless to grow. But these mine owners are not scared of this government, which is doing very little in getting this compensation paid”, said Kamlakant Gadekar, president of Mayem unit of ABKS.
According to him, the compensation order was followed by the mining companies for the first two years – 2009 and 2010, but not since then.
Yeshwant Karbotkar, another farmer, told goanews.com that the Sesa Sterile company has dug the ground 250 metres deep, illegally, posing major threat to the Mayem lake.
The Mayem lake is not only the tourist attraction but supplies water for irrigation to the neighbouring areas like Ardhawado, Kumbharwado, Bhavaki, Chinch Bhatwadi.
But, as usual, the authorities are turning blind eye towards such illegalities while farmers would suffer further.
Why this government was quick in paying compensation to the barge owners and truck owners but not the farmers, they ask.
There are many people from Goa suffered a loss in their business. Farmers are suffering for all these years either for the reasons of dumping / entering silt in the farm and such other related reasons. Why not they entitle for compansation.
secondly our entire ecology is being hampered / damaged because of the mining.
Govt is paying compansation to barge and truck owners why? were they not earning for all these yrars? it is really amusing as for what reasons decision for compansation was taken for by d Govt?