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Cost of mining: dry lakes, barren fields across a state once green by Shalini Nair

While imposing a ban on mining in Karnataka’s Bellary district in July this year, the Supreme Court had reasoned that the massive environmental damage caused by excessive mining impinges on the constitutional right to life.

In neighbouring Goa, the latest state rocked by a mining scandal, the destruction could be on an even larger scale if one compares mining figures and relates these to the areas of the large district and the tiny state. Bellary, with an area of 8,447 sq km, has 132 mining leases, according to the Karnataka Lokayukta’s report. Goa with 3,702 sq km, on the other hand, has 336 mining leases with 90 active at present. Goa constitutes only 0.11 per cent of the country’s area but as per latest figures of the Goa Mineral Ore Association, its two ports, in Mormugau and Panaji, account for 43 per cent of country’s iron exports.

Shirgao in North Goa is a microcosm of what is happening. The 3-sq-km village has three operational mines, run by the Banderkar, Chowgule and Sesagoa companies, and spread across 65 per cent of its land.

“We never say there are mines in our village. It is our village that is in the mines. Though the leases existed since Portuguese times, it was after 2003 that mining started on such a rampant scale,” said villager Dinanath Goankar as trucks laden with iron ore wheel past him every two minutes, leaving a perpetually trail of dust in the air.

The flattened hills and disembowelled plains in the village were once lush with rice, cashew, mango, kokum plantations and medicinal herbs. Now, all but one of the seven lakes, and 100-odd perennial streams, have dried up. Mining pits as deep as 60 m below sea level have led to saline water ingress into the groundwater.

One of Goankar’s farms, which was along the hills, was taken away for mining, while another, in the plains, died a slow death. Villagers dragged mining companies to the Bombay High Court in July for rendering their farms unproductive. The firms gave a joint undertaking that they would prove vilagers wrong by cultivating on 35 hectares. Three months on, despite attempts, the only visible signs of vegetation are overgrown weeds.

Mining has wreaked havoc on drinking water too. More than 27 mines operate in the catchment area of the state’s largest river, the Mandovi. Huge mounds of iron ore line the bank as it is cost-effective for miners to load them directly into barges for shipping to China. According to a report by the National Institute of Oceanography, due to runoffs from riverside mining, 70,000 tonnes of iron particulates get deposited in the Mandovi every year.

The story repeats itself across 10 other major rivers in the state. The Khandepar, which supplies water to 30 per cent of Goa’s population including those in Panaji, has a turbidity level ten times the capacity of its water treatment plant, PWD figures show. Its catchment area has 21 mines.

Ramesh Gauns, an environmental activist from Goa, said much of the illegal low grade iron ore extracted in excess of environmental clearance is stocked in dumps and then exported illegally. In August, the Bombay High Court issued showcause notices to 48 mining firms found guilty of sifting through their illegal dumps. “During monsoon, the run-off from these blankets the fields and clogs the water,” said Gauns.

“Much of this devastating industry is in ecologically fragile areas such as riverbanks and protected forests, and within 10 km of wildlife sanctuaries,” said environmentalist Claude Alvares of Goa Foundation, which has filed a court case against excessive mining. Claude said studies show the social cost of mining outweighs its benefits at 2:1.

S Sridhar, executive director of the Goa Mineral Ore Exporters’ Association, counters allegations of environmental degradation by citing data from the Forest Ministry to show the forest cover has increased in spite of mining. About the fall in agricultural yield, he said the association has been promoting agriculture but problems in getting labour has amde farming costly for locals.

And the water problem is common in non-mining areas too, he said. “In fact many of the mining pits are used as reservoirs from where water is supplied to the villages after filtering it. We have spent a few crores on installation of filtration plants in many places and taken steps such as constructing bunds to arrest silting,” he said.