KIRLAPAL-DABAL: Clouds of dust rise one after another along the highway in Dharbandora. Trucks transporting iron ore from nearby mines are in a tearing hurry. They are racing to complete as many trips as possible before
mining is shut in Goa as per the Supreme
Court order on March 15.
Just off this chaotic and congested highway, an internal road covering 2.5km takes you to Kirlapal-Dabal. Here, there is no growling of truck engines, only a green patch over with thousands of fruit trees and medicinal plants, and the chirping of birds.
Mahesh Patil, this farm’s owner, is helping a birdwatcher spot some of the avians. “I have forgotten I was ever working at the mines,” said Patil. He worked as an environmental engineer for 25 years and resigned as vice-president from
Sesa Goa three years ago, soon after the Supreme Court banned mining in Goa in 2012. Patil, however, hates to link his decision with the ban.
Patil’s farm has done more than just help him. It also employs 15 former mining dependents who were rendered jobless after the 2012 ban. When his project masterplan is complete, the project expects to employ 50 locals in all, mainly erstwhile mining dependents.
Patil’s eco-tourism project at Kirlapal-Dabal, called NV Eco Farm, seems nothing short of a miracle. It is flanked by Sesa Goa’s biggest mine in the state at Codli on one end and the other hyperactive mining belt at Sanvordem in Quepem on the other.
“This was our ancestral property and my parents had maintained the trees here over the years,” said Patil, who has renovated his family home to let out to tourists.
“I had moved to Miramar in the course of my job. When I decided to resign from my job, I decided to develop an eco-project at our ancestral land. But I knew that income from just agriculture will not be enough. So I drew plan for an eco-tourism project. Fortunately, Goa Tourism Development Corporation tied up with me and I get their guests, in addition to my own guests.” Now a few eco-cottages are under construction.
Today, Patil’s farm is an oasis in the red belt, with a butterfly park, spice plantation, coconut grove, natural pond, and medicinal plant garden for tourists to enjoy.
Patil's manager Santosh Shetkar, who was working as a supervisor at the Codli mine before losing his job post the 2012 mining ban, said, “I am grateful for this farm, which came up right in my backyard. Or else I would have to travel to Bethora industrial estate, some distance away for menial job”.
Fortunately for Patil, there is a buffer around his farm of locals’ kulaghars and fields, which they have retained against great odds, in the mining-intensive belt. Some, who lost their jobs in 2012, tried to revive their paddy fields, but it is not always easy, as here too locals are dependent on mines to provide them funds to desilt their fields. Once the financial support is lost, it is difficult to make tilling these fields profitable. And so, agriculture continues to be unreliable in this belt.
In the meantime, truck owners continue to race against time along the highway.
“With so many trucks running on the roads, we barely manage to complete two trips a day, which earns us Rs 6,000 a day, minus the costs involved,” said truck driver
Tushar Patil. Amid the dust that their race raises, the road ahead continues to be hazy.
