Mines dept officials visit Ugem to inquire about ‘illegal’ stone quarries

NTNETWORK

Curchorem

Tense atmosphere prevailed in Ugem area on Tuesday morning during the visit of a team from the mines department to inquire about the alleged illegal stone quarries in the Ugem Panchayat area.

The villagers unanimously demanded the closure of all quarries operating in the area while the deputy collector Sagar Gaude assured the villagers that the stone quarries will remain closed till the inspection report submitted by the officials of the mines department.

On Tuesday a team of mines department officials including assistant geologist Sudhir Mandrekar and Jitendra Veluskar, head surveyor Snehal Sangodkar, accompanied by deputy collector Sagar Gaude and mamlatdar Manoj Korgaonkar besides Sanguem PI Pravin Gawas went to Ugem, a crowd of villagers met the team near the main road at Ugem.

The officials patiently heard the grievances in respect of stone quarries related by the villagers. Subsequently, the officials accompanied by representatives of the villagers went round all the quarries in the area and later the deputy collector appealed to the villagers to maintain peace in the village. He told them that all the quarries will remain close till he receives a report from the team of the mines department about the stone quarries.

Later speaking to media a senior citizen Joyegin Rodrigues expressed his deep anguish towards the fact that despite the assurance from Chief Minister Pramod Sawant the stone quarries are not closed.

Another villager Milagres Fernandes said that there is no benefit of any kind to the villagers from the stone quarries operating in the Panchayat area. On the contrary the houses of the villagers are damaged due to the explosions made at the stone quarries.

When contacted a stone quarry owner Jaison Pereira the owner of Maskasone Industry, said all the allegations levelled against the stone quarries by the villagers are false and baseless. The villagers are working against the interest of Goans because they will have to depend on the metallic stones brought from other states which will be costly. I have been running the stone quarry for the last 25 years without any hindrance. There are no illegal stone quarries in the area. Our quarries are operating from about three kilometers away from the locality and no damage to the houses is done as alleged by the villagers.

Another stone quarry owner Alex Baptista said that there are some ulterior motives behind the demand to close the stone quarry. Since 1974 he has been running two stone quarries in the Ugem area without any interruption. It is after the closure of mines in 2012 the eyes of the villagers have turned towards our trucks carrying metallic stones. There are no illegalities of any kind and all the stone quarry owners are having valid licences. Besides we are submitting regular reports about the blasting and excavation of metallic stones to the concerned higher authorities, he said.

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