Rupesh Samant

Panaji, Mar 16: The people dependent on mining industry on Monday said that the immediate resumption of their activities is need of the hour for the state’s economy as Goa is looking at dwindling footfalls due to coronavirus impact. The mining activities in the state had come to halt exactly two years back on March 15, 2018, after Supreme Court quashed 88 mining leases.

Goa Mining People’s Front (GMPF) President Puti Gaonkar said that two years of mining stoppage has damaged the state’s social fabric to a great extent.

“Goa has two major job providing sectors: one is mining which has been stopped since last two years resulting into three lakh livelihood losses in the state and another is tourism,” he said.

“With the Covid-19 outbreak across the world, tourism in Goa has also dropped to a great extent and the tourist footfalls are likely to dwindle down further to a trickle,” Gaonkar added. He said that the government cannot neglect the issues related to mining and tourism as “it may cost peoples’ future.”

“In the current scenario, resumption of mining activities in the only quantifiable solution which can save the economic condition of Goans along with the state,” he added.

Gaonkar said that the mining dependents are in the serious financial crunch with no concrete solution for the resumption of Goa Mining.
Supreme court had recently allowed royalty paid Iron Ore to be transported in the State.

He said that the transportation activities which have started recently will only provide solace for a short while, its therefore imperative that full-scale mining activities resume in the State to protect the livelihood of people in the State.

Gaonkar claimed that chief minister Pramod Sawant has assured GMPF that he has taken up the matter and the solution is at the doors, however, the solace is not in getting assurances or allocating the leases, but getting the actual mining actually started at the ground.