KOLKATA (miningweekly.com) – The closure of iron-ore mines in Goa has triggered violence and widespread law and order problems at the start of the week as miners, families and workers from allied industries unleashed protests forcing the police to baton charge the crowd resulting in injuries and the arrest of 11 protesters.

Workers and families from iron-ore mining belts and villages surrounding Goa city laid siege to critical installations, including bridges connecting Goa to other parts of the province and country.

According to administrative officials, efforts to pacify the protesters and requests to shift their protest to other areas so as not to inconvenience the general public and threaten public utilities failed, forcing the police to resort to baton charges injuring protesters, as well as police in the ensuing violence.

All roads and bridges serving as entry points to the city were blocked by protesters leading to severe traffic snarls and disruptions to the gateway to the airport, the officials said.

The Goa administration has ordered an inquiry into the incident and for the report to be submitted to the Chief Minister, the officials added.

Last month, the Supreme Court in a verdict ruled that 88 iron-ore mines in the region were to be closed down by March 15, as the second renewal of mining leases granted to the miners was ‘illegal’ as the allotment of the leases was not done through the mandatory auction route.

This is the second time that iron-ore mines have had to down shutters on court orders since the first shutdown in 2012, which was subsequently lifted two years later.

Following the order, on midnight of March 15, the Goa government forced closure of all the iron-ore mines, directing all mining equipment be evacuated from pitheads and transportation routes blocked for all trucks carrying ore.

The closure of the mines has left an estimated 60 000 miners in the lurch apart from impacting thousands more indirectly dependent on allied industries to the mining sector.

In a communication to the Goa government, Goa Minerals Ore Exporters Association has warned against severe social and economic disruptions in the wake of the mine closures, warning that this would lead to financial defaults by miners against their borrowings from banks and push miners into debt with private money lenders, apart from an estimated $523-million yearly loss in review to the government.

Apprehending such a social disruption and law and order threats in the wake of the mine closure, the Goa government is already working on legal recourse including filing a review petition before the apex court.

The review petition will seek that mining operations be permitted to continue by current mining lease holders till the process of auction and allocation of mining leases to new investors is complete as such an option will mitigate the social and economic impact of the closed mines.