PANAJI: Even under the heavy heat of a typical Goan summer on Monday, protestors, gathered at the KTC circle in Panaji, were fuelled with energy shouting out slogans protesting against the closure of mines in Goa. Roads were blocked, effigies were burnt and motorists were heckled by the mining dependents in a bid to intensify their protest and compel the government to give in to their demands.
“Dadagiri nahi chalegi” they screamed oozing of irony as they themselves used ‘dadagiri’ to forcefully bring the city’s traffic to a standstill.
Men and women, both chagrined, used water bottles as a substitute for percussions beating them rhythmically as accompaniment to their slogans.
The protestors also heckled a bike rider who was maneuvering his way through the sea of agitators to proceed towards
Bardez. “Your high-end bike is made up of iron ore that comes from our mines. Shame on you for ignoring our plight,” a protestor shouted. The man was let go only when he pleaded to see his wife at a hospital in
Mapusa. He pushed his bike up the slope leading to the Mandovi bridge instead of kickstarting to ensure that it wouldn’t attract too much attention.
Many cars were parked haphazardly outside the Ambedkar garden, near the Panaji end of the old Mandovi bridge, as their owners/drivers were forced to abandon their vehicles by the agitators.
“We worry about our children, not as much about ourselves,” said one of the women at the protest.
“Mining is our daily bread; we have no skills or specialization to take up another job. We were so affected during the 2012 mining ban that we didn’t even have Rs 100 in our hands. We braved those difficult times back then, but now they’ve come to haunt us again,” she said.
75-year-old Khwaja
Modi Kalaigar changes the ‘patti’ (attached to the axle) on truck tyres for a living which earns him Rs 200-300 per day. With mining closure, the septuagenarian who is the sole bread winner in his family fears for the future of his family.
“I have six people dependent on me back home. How am I to provide for their needs with mining closure?” he cried.
Women and children, families of the mining dependent, also joined the protest.
Nita Fernandes, whose family operates trucks in Capxem had to sell all her gold in order to rebuild her life. “We were broke when mining shut down in the beginning of this decade. Later, I sold all my jewellery and took loans to start the mining trucks when mining resumed, only to be told that it will stop again. Why is the government toying with us like this?”
Sonam Teli, the daughter of a mining dependent, decried unfairness on the part of the government. “We are three sisters who have come to fight on behalf of our father. He has put all his money in the mining business and if it ends, so does our future,” she lamented.
Motorists tried to fight back in their own way as they bee-lined their vehicles on the road leading to the old Mandovi bridge and honked furiously in a bid to get the protestors to move.
“They cannot bully an entire city like this. This is not the democratic way,” said a motorist.
The protestors, however, refused to budge. It was only later in the day when the police resorted to a lathi-charge that the crowd dispersed.
Representative image 
