Mining resumes, but where are the jobs? Cong says BJP ‘dangled a carrot’ in North Goa

“The gold (iron ore) is being mined from our village and exported to foreign countries, but we are not getting any jobs. Labourers are being hired on contract, and that too, from other states and constituencies,” says Madan.

Vedanta Sesa Goa announced in early April that it had commenced operations at the Bicholim Mineral Block, becoming the first auctioned mine to become operational since mining was halted six years ago. The Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change granted environmental clearance to the auction block of Vedanta Limited for a mine spread over 478.5 hectares across six villages in Bicholim taluka – Mulgao, Sirigao, Lamgao, Bordem, Bicholim and Mayem.

There are nine auctioned blocks in the state, of which only the Bicholim block is operational at present.

Calling the reopening of the mines a “historic” move, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had said, “Due to the ban, Goa faced many hardships. With this, many stakeholders shall benefit, as well as the state.”

With the coastal state scheduled to vote for the Lok Sabha polls on May 7, many in Bicholim have pinned their hopes of employment flowing from the resumption of mining. In the lead-up to the 2022 Assembly polls, parties across the spectrum had promised to revive the mining sector. The BJP, which returned to power, is hoping to consolidate votes in the five talukas of the “mining belt” – Sattari, Quepem, Sanguem, Dharbandora and Bicholim – and which account for 20% of the voters in the North Goa constituency.

According to a 2022 NITI Aayog report, Goa had an unemployment rate of 10.5% in 2020-21, putting the number of jobless in the state at 1.1 lakh. Mining revenue was estimated to have contributed 20% of the state’s GDP before it was halted.

Among those who lost their jobs was Nitin Dharghalkar, 55, who worked as a contractor providing trucks for mines during the “boom” period from 2007 to 2012, when the demand from China for low-grade Goan iron ore peaked. “Apart from tourism and agriculture, mining used to provide employment to a large section. When the mines shut, many migrated, others were left out of a job,” he says.

North Goa Lok Sabha Seat

In Sirigao village in Bicholim taluka, Mahesh Gaonkar, 42, points to a rusting truck parked across the road from his house. He borrowed money from a friend to purchase it in 2011. For a year, he transported ore from mining pits to jetty points and ports, and when the mines shut, he took odd jobs to pay the loan. “The truck is of no use now. The youth in the village will get jobs, contractors will get business,” he says.

Manasi Kauthankar, a panchayat member in Mulgao, says, “The men are sitting idle in their houses. Why are the mining jobs being outsourced? We are going to make this an election issue. If the politicians want votes, they must promise jobs for locals.”

Earlier this month, when North Goa MP and Union Minister Shripad Naik, who is hoping to win a sixth term from the seat on the BJP ticket, visited Mulgao, he was cornered by villagers. Naik promised to raise the matter with the CM and ensure that people who lost their jobs are hired again.

For several in Bicholim though, mining is an issue fraught with concern after decades of indiscriminate mining adversely impacted the local ecology. (Express Photo)

Ramakant Khalap, a former Union law minister and the Congress’s North Goa candidate, says the BJP government has “dangled a carrot” by promising jobs and claiming to revive mining just ahead of the elections. “It was the BJP government that first shut down mining, which impacted the livelihood of over 2 lakh people in the constituency. How will the loss to the state exchequer and to the affected families be compensated? Now by starting one mine, the BJP cannot claim any credit or a special favour for people,” says Khalap.

On Tuesday, state power minister Sudin Dhavalikar of Maharashtra Gomantak Party, an ally of the BJP, said the Congress was responsible for closure of mining activities in Goa. “People of Goa should check the history to know who was responsible for the diversion of Mhadei river and closure of mining. You need to know who had done irregularities in mining and people involved in it. There was a cap of 38 million tonnes on iron ore, who increased it to 62 million tonnes?” Dhavalikar asked.

Environment concerns

For several in Bicholim though, mining is an issue fraught with concern after decades of indiscriminate mining adversely impacted the local ecology.

Vasant Gaad, a Mulgao resident, talks about increasingly saline groundwater. “The silt deposition from mining has degraded soil fertility in the paddy fields. These are choked with silt, betel nut production has been hit,” he says.

Gaad says the Mulgao panchayat has adopted a resolution that the village properties which have been incorrectly shown within the mining lease area, in the environment impact assessment reports, be removed and a buffer zone be demarcated. “Otherwise, we shall not allow any mining in the village,” he says.

Ramesh Gauns, an environmental activist from Bicholim, says the mining lobby is controlled by some of Goa’s prominent business families. “Every politician here knows the mining lobby is the goose that lays the golden eggs. So historically, all the parties and candidates have tried to align their interests with those stakeholders,” Gauns says.

At the same time, Gauns says environmental issues are not on the minds of Goa’s voters. “People are not conscious about the long-term and adverse effects of mining. It remains confined to the area around mining leases,” he says.