The National Board for Wildlife’s clearance for iron ore handling inside the Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary has reignited opposition in Goa, with environmentalists and local communities warning of ecological damage in a critical Western Ghats forest corridor.
The Goa government’s fast-tracked auction of new mining blocks, backed by a Rs 400 crore central incentive, has triggered village-level protests over pollution, exclusion of local workers, and fears of repeating the social and environmental harms of past mining booms.
Experts have also raised concerns over flawed “greenfield” classifications, misuse of mining welfare funds, and weakened environmental oversight, underscoring deep mistrust rooted in Goa’s long and contentious mining history.
Goa’s uneasy truce with mining has once again been shattered, this time in the dense, biodiverse forests of the Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary and Mollem National Park. The National Board for Wildlife’s recent clearance allowing South Western Railway to continue iron ore handling at the Kalem railway yard, located inside the protected area, has triggered sharp opposition from environmentalists, wildlife experts and local communities, who warn that the move threatens a critical forest corridor in the Western Ghats.
The decision comes amid the Goa government’s renewed and rapid push to restart mining through the auction of new blocks across villages such as Lamgao, Pilgao, Mulgaon, Sirigao and Mayem. The state received nearly Rs 400 crore from the Centre as an incentive for initiating the auctions, but the process has sparked intense resistance on the ground. Residents have taken to social media and public platforms, alleging that mining companies are sidelining local workers in favour of labour brought in from outside, deepening resentment in communities already scarred by decades of extractive activity and broken promises.
Protests By Locals
Earlier this month in Mayem, villagers openly confronted Salgaocar Shipping, the successful bidder for one of the mining blocks, articulating demands rooted in lived experience rather than abstract environmental concerns. Their protest reflected a deep collective memory of mining’s social and ecological costs.
The Goa Foundation, a Mapusa-based environmental conservation organisation, has been at the forefront of opposition to renewed mining operations. In a statement, the foundation said the government had rushed into auctioning three mining blocks in Lamgao, Pilgao, Mulgaon, Sirigao and Mayem, pointing out that opposition erupted almost immediately after the auctions were announced. “The government received Rs 400 crore from the central government as a reward for starting the mining blocks. Hardly had the ink dried on the auction orders when protests began in all these villages,” the statement said. The foundation noted that a primary grievance was the exclusion of local residents from employment, adding that leaseholders had shown little sensitivity to community norms. Praising the resistance in Mayem, it said villagers were “more articulate than university professors” because they understood mining’s consequences through life experience.
On December 19, residents of Pilgaon staged protests against the transportation of products linked to Vedanta Limited, citing violations of pollution control and transportation norms. Locals complained of severe dust pollution, saying it had already begun to affect health and daily life.
Environmentalists Claude Alvares and Rahul Basu have also raised serious concerns about the decision to classify new mining lease areas in Bicholim as “greenfield” projects, warning that the label conceals long-term ecological damage. Speaking at an event earlier this year, Basu argued that treating already degraded land as a baseline for restoration was fundamentally flawed. “If today’s degraded landscape becomes our starting point, then in 50 years we will merely be restoring the land to a state that is already damaged,” he said.
Alvares highlighted an alternative approach to ecological recovery developed by the Goa Foundation in partnership with the forest department. Instead of conventional tree plantation drives, the initiative focuses on grass-based regeneration in degraded areas, a low-cost, high-impact strategy that he said has delivered faster and more effective ecosystem recovery.
The environmentalists also flagged the misuse of District Mineral Foundation (DMF) funds, which are legally meant to benefit communities affected by mining. Basu pointed out that these funds were diverted during the COVID-19 pandemic and stressed the urgent need to redirect them to mining-impacted regions. Both also expressed concern over what they described as the weakening of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), citing a shortage of technical and scientific experts on its benches. Alvares warned that without such expertise, the legal system’s ability to address ecological damage was increasingly at risk, as reported by AllyCaral.
Goa’s History With Mining
For many Goans, the current wave of protests is deeply rooted in history. Iron ore mining began in the state in 1951 on a modest scale, but expanded dramatically over the decades. Ore was transported from the hinterland to river jetties, loaded onto barges and shipped through the mangrove-lined Mandovi estuary to Mormugao Port, feeding markets in China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Eastern Europe. At the height of the China-led commodity boom between 2007 and 2011, Goa was exporting nearly 54 million tonnes of iron ore annually.
The boom left lasting scars. Rivers were choked with silt, mangroves damaged by relentless barge traffic, agricultural land coated in red dust, and groundwater sources polluted beyond use. Villagers reported cracked homes from blasting, rising respiratory illnesses and the steady erosion of farming and fishing livelihoods. Wildlife corridors were fragmented as thousands of trucks cut through forests day and night. These impacts ultimately led to the 2012 shutdown of mining operations after the Justice M.B. Shah Commission exposed widespread illegal mining and massive revenue losses.
Mining has long been entangled with politics in Goa. Colonial-era concessions granted to private investors were abolished by the Centre in 1987, reshaping ownership patterns. Decades later, the Goa government’s 2014 renewal of 88 mining leases was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2018, once again halting operations Seeking to revive mining while retaining local control, the Goa government set up the Goa Mineral Development Corporation in 2021. However, after the BJP returned to power in the 2022 Assembly elections under Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, the state acceded to central pressure for fast-tracked auctions. The move opened the sector to out-of-state miners, steel companies and traders.
The clearance at Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary has now become a powerful symbol of this shift. As mining edges back into Goa’s forest heartland, the state once again confronts a familiar and fraught question: can it extract mineral wealth without sacrificing its rivers, wildlife and communities, or is history poised to repeat itself?
