Around 100 strong group of villagers of Kevona-Colamb blocked road in the village and sent back over 50 Iron Ore trucks back to Dinar Tarcar's mines in nearby Sulcorna village on July 10 2008. At around 10.00 am Colamb villagers descended on the road and started blocking the road. Scene turned tensed when a local correspondent of the Marathi daily 'Goa Doot' was violently targeted by the truck drivers and public stood in defence of the photographer. Police from Quepem Police station turned up at the road blockade site and immediately - rather pleasant surprise considering earlier track record of Police from Quepem Police station - started siding with the agitating villagers demand that no transportation of Ore on the villager road be carried on till the pot-holes ridden village road hijacked by mining companies. By 2.00 pm Public and Police forced the trucks to go back to their mines and stop plying on the road in Colamb. Police indeed deserved to be congratulated for this. Well done at least once you'll took the side of public. it would be great to see more of such actions in future specially against Fomento mining company that has been systematically ruing the Colamb village through its mine of Hiralal khodidas.
Dinar Tarcar is carrying on illegal mine lease in the name of Hyder Cassim T.C. No. 10/51 in Sulcorna. Mining has cause tremendous damage to the agriculture in Sulcorna and Dinar Tarcar is involved in muzzling of local protests of villagers in Sulcorna.
Villagers on the earlier occasion on July 08 2008 had complained to the Rivona Sarpanch about the bad road conditions in Colamb and forced her to take immediate steps to stop mining transportation on public road. Sarpanch Manshi Naik had reluctantly agreed to this after behaving hi handed with the villagers. Click here for earlier report on this.
Sebastian Rodrigues with input from Rama Velip in Colamb
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