Dempo havoc in Pilgao

Pilgao is one village in Bicholim, where in the havoc created by Dempo mining company is legendary and is visible for everyone to see. The company has got its beneficiation plant located in the village to wash the iron ore, it is a site for storage of the iron ore, site where in it has created arificial lake to pump water out to earn foreign exchange, de facto privatized public road and most importantly it has dumped mining waste in precious reclaimed lands of Goa known as Khazan lands. Lets tour Pilgao... the above picture is of beneficiation Plant that creates intense pollution for the surroundings.

This is how Dempos have dumped its overburden in Khazan lands...
Dumping continues in traditional fields. Dempos are responsible for large scale destruction of agriculture and Forest in Bicholim taluka due to the reckless mining activity...
Dempos have laid pipelines in the traditional fields to solve the problem of logging created by its own mining dumps...
You can see the high tubidity level in Khazan lands in Pilgao. The water in the field is mining red!
This is not a welcome gate to Pilgao but an arc above the public road (connecting Bicholim town to Sarmanas Ferry) is of its beneficiation plant; public road is gradually yet systematically brought under the private control of Dempos. A new road is constructed nearby through public money though entire industry is for private gains.

View of the nearby mountains from the Dempos waste in Pilagao Khazan lands.
This is a mini mountain created by dumpings from Dempos in the middle of the Khazan lands. One has to count how many natural mountains Dempos has razed to the ground in Bicholim taluka alone to constitute its booty capital - windfall earnings through loot of the nature over the past half a century.
Water stays accumulated in the fields in Pilgao: Courtesy Dempos contribution to Goa.
Dempos have constructed mud road through the fields to transport mining waste in the Khazan lands.
Dempos has all the field for itself, it has a might to do what it feels is right; all Goa's fields are its backyard. Perhaps this is the reason Dempo family member Vasantrao Dempo was awarded Padmashree by the Indian government: to be the chief of Goa's mining loot and plunder and transform Bicholim as begging bowl.

Accumulated water in Pilgao due to Dempos mischief.
You can notice new variety of samplings on the arrestors of the dumps. You know, these plants are called Acasias and they are known water suckers. Dempos have been sucking all our water in Bicholim to dig deep and now it is sucking deep with Acasias in Khazan lands as well. Dempos cruelty is truly limitless.
This is an edge of the dump in Pilgao...
Water bodies inside the Khazan lands near Dempos dumps are turnd trubid red due to dumping. This is visible and common sense to understand. Dempos will have to get scientists from mining research centre, Dhanbad, Jharkhand to fabricate and prove otherwise as it has done so in number of occasions in recent past including to prove that its mine in Mayem has no impact on dencresing water levels of Mayem lake, in Bicholim.
You can see the turbid waters of Pilgao Khazhans in the above picture. Don't forget to call up Dempos corporate office in Panjim and congratulate its managing director for transforming Goa red.

This one is really really intense red...
This one looks like a pond between the dumps; only frogs cannot jump in this as they like fresh clean water and Dempos have been messing it up all, all over Bicholim and beyond.
You can no longer cultivate rice in this. With mining of Dempos and other companies, we will soon have to say "Once upon a time Goa was green and self-producing in food. But alas, Dempos finished it up all. We cannot unfortunately eat footballs. The corporate has fooled us all."
This water, adjacent to Dempos dumps is red. Once upon a time it was fishemen's paradise. But no longer so, as Dempos condemned all life forms to the dumping graves. It has left accasias for us to depend upon.
This is not a sweeming pool. In fact one wishes it was so...but you know...'If wishes were horses, beggers would ride...' And mining trade in full swing entire people of Goa are indeed becoming beggers. We will have to die begging for water as there would be no one to listen to our cries. Dempo family and relatives will be sitting in France or Switzerland: the countries with water as their choice. You and I will be left only to die.

This is where Dempos are releasing their water from Beneficiation plant. You can see the edges of its pipelines.
This is where water from beneficiation plant is released into; it has become artificial lake. Dempos have declared their intentions to take over massive amounts of lands in Pilgao village. The details are available in the taskforce report as annexure. The same way Chowgules have declared to take over massive lands in Lotoulim. Chowgules want Indusrial estate status to subsidise its mining operations there!
This is where water is released from benefitiation plant for filtering purpose. One wonders: all the weath that is earned from mining, how it is being filtered? Whose coffers are filled? How much of it goes to Pilgao and other victim villages in Bicholim, besides few lakhs to temples to control people and few walls constructed around Bicholim bus stand with infinite number of Dempos name plates as public relations exercise?
You can see who is swimming in the polluted water in Pilgao. Buffaloes have no where else to go but sit in Dempos silt and turbid water. Dempos like rest of mining companies in Goa create public damage and private profit. The entire mining industry is illogical and irrational that has to be done away with. Sooner it is done, better it is. Dempos are law unto themselves in Bicholim taluka.
Pick up you camera and go shooting. You will see so many things around you wherein injustice meted out by mining companies are rampant. As Amartya Sen writes in his recent book 'The Argumentative Indian', "Silence is the greatest enemy of Social Injustice."

Sebastian Rodrigues with creative input from Ramesh Gauns and Kurund Gauns in Bicholim.