By SHIVAKUMAR G MALAGI
Feb/2009
If mining is lucra tive in Bellary, so are its pothole-filled roads. Villagers get a steady supply of iron ore as trucks transporting it from the mines constantly hit potholes, spilling some of the mineral on the roads, which people scramble to collect and sell to middlemen, making a tidy sum in the bargain.
Villagers in the BellarySandur-Hospet mining belt bank on the poor condition of the 60 km stretch of NH63 between Hospet and Bellary and other roads, which the lorries trundle over, to make a quick buck.
Women and children from villages on either side of the Bellary-Hospet and Sandur-Hospet mining belt and Banjara hamlets in the Sandur forest near the mining fields on the KarnatakaAndhra Pradesh border, are out most days collecting the fallen stones black with their iron content. They wait for the ore-laden trucks heading to ports on the eastern and western coasts to pass, and leap to collect the iron ore that fall off when the vehicles hit huge cratelike potholes.
For Shivamma of Sushilanagar in Sandur the “black stones” that she collects mean no less than hard currency. “I collect a minimum of two baskets and earn around Rs 60 a day. There are many who have become rich selling these stones. What I earn is very little but it is enough to feed my family,” she says.
But the easy money comes at a price. According to the police, several women and children have been crushed to death by the lorries on these roads. “Children who are in a hurry to collect the ore jump onto the road as soon as they fall from the truck risking being run over by other approaching trucks,” says traffic police constable Nagaraj of Papinayakanahalli.
Villagers in the BellarySandur-Hospet mining belt bank on the poor condition of the 60 km stretch of NH63 between Hospet and Bellary and other roads, which the lorries trundle over, to make a quick buck.
Women and children from villages on either side of the Bellary-Hospet and Sandur-Hospet mining belt and Banjara hamlets in the Sandur forest near the mining fields on the KarnatakaAndhra Pradesh border, are out most days collecting the fallen stones black with their iron content. They wait for the ore-laden trucks heading to ports on the eastern and western coasts to pass, and leap to collect the iron ore that fall off when the vehicles hit huge cratelike potholes.
For Shivamma of Sushilanagar in Sandur the “black stones” that she collects mean no less than hard currency. “I collect a minimum of two baskets and earn around Rs 60 a day. There are many who have become rich selling these stones. What I earn is very little but it is enough to feed my family,” she says.
But the easy money comes at a price. According to the police, several women and children have been crushed to death by the lorries on these roads. “Children who are in a hurry to collect the ore jump onto the road as soon as they fall from the truck risking being run over by other approaching trucks,” says traffic police constable Nagaraj of Papinayakanahalli.
"The whole world may not know where India is, but they sure know where Bellary is. We are approaching court against the government action. How can they assert that we encroached forest area without ascertaining the facts? I’m not against curbs on illegal mining activity. But government should not use the same whisk for both donkey and horse and what is happening on legal mines is extreme "
— Abdul Wahab, former president of All India Mine Owners and Traders Association
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