Goa mining transport operations in Sanvordem are set to resume after Chief Minister Pramod Sawant brokered a settlement that gives local trucks priority in the current ore movement, while vehicles from other areas will be accommodated as additional routes open. The agreement followed a dispute that halted transportation within days of mining activity restarting after a gap of more than a decade.
The decision was taken at a meeting attended by truck operators and members of the Sanvordem panchayat. Under the arrangement, trucks from the Sanvordem constituency will handle the ongoing transportation work. Trucks from other areas are expected to be assigned to routes that become operational later.
Ore transportation in Sanvordem resumed last week but stopped on Thursday after local truckers blocked the movement of ore. They objected to the deployment of trucks from outside the constituency and maintained that vehicles from villages along the transportation route should be engaged to move mining dumps.
Efforts by the police and the Sanguem deputy collector to resolve the dispute did not succeed initially. Loaded trucks were escorted to jetties under heavy police protection the following day, but no fresh loading took place, according to the report.
After the chief minister’s meeting, Sanvordem truck owners’ association president Vallabh Dalvi said the current operations would use only trucks from Sanvordem. He said the association was ready to resume transportation once the mining firm issued a notification. Dalvi added that the chief minister had indicated that trucks from other areas would be engaged on routes expected to open shortly.
Truck owner Sanket Bhandari said the dispute had arisen because the number of trucks seeking work exceeded the available transportation requirement. He said iron ore transportation from the Cuddegal mine was expected to begin soon, creating additional business for trucks operating along that route. Transportation from Curpem and other mines would allow trucks from Curchorem and other areas to participate, he added.
The standoff had threatened to disrupt the revival of mining activity in South Goa, where transportation is a critical link between mining leases, roads and jetties. The immediate arrangement limits participation in the current work to local operators while leaving scope for wider truck deployment as more mining routes become active.
Transporters awarded tenders are expected to begin moving mining dumps from leases along the Rivona-Sanguem route shortly, according to sources cited in the report. Mining activity is also expected to begin soon at the Kalay mineral block, which could increase transportation activity and the number of trucks required. The mining firm must now notify operators before transportation resumes under the settlement.
