Sindhudurg:
Sindhudurg district, located in the fragile Western Ghats, Maharashtra's southern-most district bordering Goa could see an invasion by as many as 49 mines. Even as they await clearance, villagers have alleged that the environment reports, on which these clearances are given, are bogus. What's also ironic is that these leases are being proposed in a region that was declared the nation's first eco-tourism district over a decade ago in 1997. Given that mining and tourism don't go hand in hand, many are questioning the move.
In the Sawantwadi-Dodamarg belt alone, over 30 leases are proposed. Hundreds of acres in this green zone have been earmarked for iron ore and bauxite mining ore that's in huge demand overseas.
As many as 49 mining leases are at different stages of approval in Sindhudurg- part of the fragile and eco-sensitive Western Ghats, globally recognised as an important biodiversity hotspot.
Now these mountains find themselves on the mining plan.
Only a few mines are operational right now but the plan for the future is massive.
"If you talk of Sindhudurg alone, we are talking of a 25,000-crore industry and that's a huge figure. Mining is never beneficial to the local people and in Sindhudurg particularly, this is a region where farmers are self sufficient, they have enough farm lands, horticulture and amazingly most villages here don't even have wells cause their water supply is taken care of by the forests, through perennial streams and rivers," said D Stalin, of the NGO Vanashakti that is helping locals fight to save their homes and lands from the proposed mining.
These mines continue to face strong public resistance; locals allege that most leases are based on bogus environment impact assessment reports.
"The report said that there is no water source within a 10-kilometres radius, when a river flows within 50 metres, and another within 50 metres. These are perennial water sources that will be destroyed by mining," said Satish Ghotge, a resident of Kalne Village, where one mine is already operational.
Ghotge has seen the impact first-hand. "We used to get 5-6 quintals of cashew here. Last year we barely managed 2.5 quintals."
In fact, villagers here complain that in spite of stiff resistance to mining, their voices have fallen on deaf ears. Instead, villagers allege that strong-arm tactics and political pressure were used to thwart their democratic protests and give the Kalne mine clearance.
Stalin adds, "In 2007, Kalne village was declared mining area. The villagers opposed it tooth and nail. There was unanimous rejection of these mining proposals. And the peaceful protests were ignored and at the second public hearing things got out of hand. A security guard travelling in an overloaded vehicle toppled over and sustained head injury, and died the next day. Using that as an excuse to slap murder charges on innocent villagers, almost 19 of them were put into prison for almost 3 months. The villagers were brutally terrorised, men folk threatened. So much so that men were scared to stay in their houses. And despite the EIA being faulty, despite public hearings being a sham, despite public opposition being near 100 percent, despite the area being known as part of wildlife corridor, all objections were cast aside and mining has commenced there and the results are shocking."
B R Kolte, President of the Mining Virodhi Sangharsh Samiti told NDTV, "We have seen what mining has done to Goa. The area that was once green and rich with flora and fauna has been replaced with heaps of waste stocked up from the mines. There isn't any green patch left where something as tiny as a bird can perch. Mountains have been reduced to dust and mud. Rivers have been polluted, the water table has dipped. We don't want the same thing to happen here."
The biggest mine operating here belongs to Vinay Patil, son of Congressman and former Maharashtra minister Rohidas Patil
Many others are in the pipeline, awaiting permissions.
Reports of bogus environment impact assessment reports have triggered action from Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh, who asked the state to review all mining leases here.
Mine owner Vinay Patil is yet to respond to NDTV's queries.
The state Environment Secretary accepts that many reports are flawed.
"Environment Impact Assessment is not done properly. Many are bogus. We would like a modern Environment Impact Assessment to be done by the ministry, perhaps by a neutral panel," said Valsa Nair Singh, Environment Secretary, Mahasrashtra.
Even two months after Jairam Ramesh's letter, the state is yet to finish this crucial review; while in Sindhudurg's fragile ecosystem it remains business as usual.
In the Sawantwadi-Dodamarg belt alone, over 30 leases are proposed. Hundreds of acres in this green zone have been earmarked for iron ore and bauxite mining ore that's in huge demand overseas.
As many as 49 mining leases are at different stages of approval in Sindhudurg- part of the fragile and eco-sensitive Western Ghats, globally recognised as an important biodiversity hotspot.
Now these mountains find themselves on the mining plan.
Only a few mines are operational right now but the plan for the future is massive.
"If you talk of Sindhudurg alone, we are talking of a 25,000-crore industry and that's a huge figure. Mining is never beneficial to the local people and in Sindhudurg particularly, this is a region where farmers are self sufficient, they have enough farm lands, horticulture and amazingly most villages here don't even have wells cause their water supply is taken care of by the forests, through perennial streams and rivers," said D Stalin, of the NGO Vanashakti that is helping locals fight to save their homes and lands from the proposed mining.
These mines continue to face strong public resistance; locals allege that most leases are based on bogus environment impact assessment reports.
"The report said that there is no water source within a 10-kilometres radius, when a river flows within 50 metres, and another within 50 metres. These are perennial water sources that will be destroyed by mining," said Satish Ghotge, a resident of Kalne Village, where one mine is already operational.
Ghotge has seen the impact first-hand. "We used to get 5-6 quintals of cashew here. Last year we barely managed 2.5 quintals."
In fact, villagers here complain that in spite of stiff resistance to mining, their voices have fallen on deaf ears. Instead, villagers allege that strong-arm tactics and political pressure were used to thwart their democratic protests and give the Kalne mine clearance.
Stalin adds, "In 2007, Kalne village was declared mining area. The villagers opposed it tooth and nail. There was unanimous rejection of these mining proposals. And the peaceful protests were ignored and at the second public hearing things got out of hand. A security guard travelling in an overloaded vehicle toppled over and sustained head injury, and died the next day. Using that as an excuse to slap murder charges on innocent villagers, almost 19 of them were put into prison for almost 3 months. The villagers were brutally terrorised, men folk threatened. So much so that men were scared to stay in their houses. And despite the EIA being faulty, despite public hearings being a sham, despite public opposition being near 100 percent, despite the area being known as part of wildlife corridor, all objections were cast aside and mining has commenced there and the results are shocking."
B R Kolte, President of the Mining Virodhi Sangharsh Samiti told NDTV, "We have seen what mining has done to Goa. The area that was once green and rich with flora and fauna has been replaced with heaps of waste stocked up from the mines. There isn't any green patch left where something as tiny as a bird can perch. Mountains have been reduced to dust and mud. Rivers have been polluted, the water table has dipped. We don't want the same thing to happen here."
The biggest mine operating here belongs to Vinay Patil, son of Congressman and former Maharashtra minister Rohidas Patil
Many others are in the pipeline, awaiting permissions.
Reports of bogus environment impact assessment reports have triggered action from Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh, who asked the state to review all mining leases here.
Mine owner Vinay Patil is yet to respond to NDTV's queries.
The state Environment Secretary accepts that many reports are flawed.
"Environment Impact Assessment is not done properly. Many are bogus. We would like a modern Environment Impact Assessment to be done by the ministry, perhaps by a neutral panel," said Valsa Nair Singh, Environment Secretary, Mahasrashtra.
Even two months after Jairam Ramesh's letter, the state is yet to finish this crucial review; while in Sindhudurg's fragile ecosystem it remains business as usual.
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