NT Reporter
Bicholim
In a joint meeting held on Friday with Bicholim deputy collector Shubham Naik, Mulgao villagers agreed to allow a mining company to carry out pre-monsoon works on the condition that the company should provide them with a list of the works it will undertake.
They, however, told the deputy collector that any attempt by the company to start mining activities using police force would not be tolerated at any cost. The company had commenced pre monsoon works under police protection which had upset the locals.
Other conditions raised by them during Friday’s discussion included that the desilting work of the lake near the mine should be carried out under the supervision of villagers and the panchayat secretary, and that work should be restricted from 9 am to 6 pm, with no work during night hours.
The president of Mulgao Nagrik Samiti, Prakash Parab, all panch members, temple committee members and villagers present at the meeting in the collectorate office participated in the discussion.
Villagers told the deputy collector that their 15 demands had not yet been addressed by the company, and if these were not fulfilled, they would ban the company’s mining activities, including at Block No. 1.
Naik assured the villagers that he would ask company authorities to provide them with the list of pre-monsoon works to be carried out. Villagers agreed on the conditions raised at the meeting.
