An idyll destroyed
Statistics and studies on mining in Goa are rare, few and far between... for obvious reasons, because the private mine- owners form a powerful interest group in the state, which most politicians are wary of disturbing. One authoritative study, entitled Report of the Task-Force of the Eco- Development Plan for Goa, was published in 1982 by the Planning Commission. Its chairperson was the noted environmentalist and agricultural scientist, M S Swaminathan. it said that as much as 17.9 per cent of Goa's total area - or 65,400 out of 365,563 ha - was under mining lease. One- fourth of that area was under actual mining operations. In talukas such as Bicholim, just below half the total land area was leased to mining. The tiny island state of Goa contributes a large chunk of India's total iron ore exports. This is largely a legacy of the Portuguese rule in this part of the country, which allowed, under a decree of 1906, the granting of mining concessions given in perpetuity to private parties.
These concessions were perpetual and gave proprietary rights for an unlimited period. Such concessions were granted by the Portuguese regime to around 600 private parties. Though there are still a large number of parties involved in mining, the real control rests in the hands of half-a-dozen, or even fewer, big Goan industrial houses.
Mining firms in Goa play down their own role in reducing the forest cover in parts of the state. "in Goa, large forest areas have been felled due to the alleged flouting of forest laws by powerful politicians, for commercial purposes; sometimes, it is said, in collusion with forest guards," charges a publication of the Goa Miner and Ore Exporters' Association, a body of private mining firms.
Fish, Curry and Rice, a report on Goa's environment, published by a coalition of green groups here, said, on the other hand, that -deforestation (due to mining) is inevitable, as more than 350,000 ha of mining concessions and leases are within the forest areas of the Western Ghats". Back in 1982, a National Institute of Oceanography team reported substantial levels of heavy metals in several species of fish in the Aguada Bay at the mouth of the Mandovi river. This study indicated the presence of iron, manganese, nickel, cobalt, zinc and even mercury in the fish - most of which are popular table varieties among Goans.
Mining, according to Modassir, affects aquatic life since it
• increases the water-suspended load, especially during the monsoons
• leads to the deposition of red clay, cobble and pebbles at the bottom of streams and rivers, thus blanketing the natural sediment
• depletes the dissolved oxygen content of water, and
• depletes the overall biological index of streams, rivers and estuaries