Ship owners in Goa ferrying iron ore from jetties to ports say their business is on the brink of crisis after the State Government suspended mining leases.
“We see a bleak future ahead for this industry, which has 6,000 families dependent on it,” All Goa Barge Owners Association President Atul Jadhav told reporters here on Sunday.
Around 400 barges (ships) operate through inland waterways ferrying iron ore from different jetties to both the ports – Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) and Panaji minor port.
The State Government, as part of implementation of the Justice M.B. Shah Commission report on iron ore trade in Goa, has suspended licences of all the mines since September 7.
However, the State Government has not banned the transportation and export of ore that is already lying at the jetties or recently extracted and piled up in the mining leases.
Jadhav said that Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, during a discussion with them, had claimed that there were one million tonnes of ore lying at the jetties and mines.
“But the mining industry claims that seven million tonnes of iron ore are piled up at jetties and mines,” he added.
The barge owners said that the available ore is not enough to sustain their trade.
The association’s secretary, William D’Costa, said that the barge owners had arrived at a consensus that everyone would share the existing cargo, till the situation normalises.
“We have a lot of financial commitments. There are loan liabilities to the banks. We have given our vessels and houses as collateral that might be attached if we default,” D’Costa said.
He urged the Government to make arrangements with the banks so that the soft instalments could be worked out.