Goa Barge Owners' Association seeks immediate solution to mining stalemate in state

It also urged the government to immediately resume mining activities in the state to revive the SME industry, which will protect livelihoods of mining dependents in the entire value-chain. The barge owners have collectively incurred a loss in excess of Rs 500 crore in the last 30 months and the debts are further rising because of their inability to repay the instalments, the Goa Barge Owners' Association said in a statement.

The Goa Barge Owners' Association on Monday appealed to the government to help barge owners affected due to the mining ban in the state and prepare a congenial and debt-free atmosphere. It also urged the government to immediately resume mining activities in the state to revive the SME industry, which will protect livelihoods of mining dependents in the entire value-chain.

The barge owners have collectively incurred a loss in excess of Rs 500 crore in the last 30 months and the debts are further rising because of their inability to repay the instalments, the Goa Barge Owners' Association said in a statement. The state of Goa is the only state with a unique logistics infrastructure for movement of iron ore from mines to ports.

The entire cargo for exports is transported by barge through waterways. This is the most economical and environment friendly mode of transportation. This channel involves trucks, jetties, and barges, in that order. Iron-ore mining, in the state had helped build a small and medium enterprises (SME) of truckers, machine and owners of river barges.

These SMEs took huge loans from various public and private sector banks as well as cooperatives to set-up their businesses and earn their livelihoods, the statement said. Sudden closure of mining in March 2018 in the state through a Supreme Court order has led shut-down of these small businesses and their assets are lying idle and getting rusted for the last 30 months, it added.

Presently, all these businesses and their families are witnessing a bleak future as there has not been any clear direction from the Government on resumption of mining. Various money lending companies are also harassing as now the barge owners' have sold their personal assets and are not in a capacity to repay the loans, the association said.

"We had 304 barges in the state before mining was banned by the Apex Court of India. Today, we are left only with 105 barges and these are also getting worn out because we do not have any money for their maintenance. People working in the 'Rs 1,300 crore worth industry’, in the current situation, have no money to feed their families," Goa Barge Owners’ Association President Atul Jadhav said. "We are pleading to the central and the state government for immediately resume mining in the state so that our equipment get utilised and the labour employed gets the livelihood," he added.

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