Employees of GSI company digging iron ore.
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Samvad Sutra, Sikandra (Jamui). There is huge dissatisfaction among the villagers of Manjosh village over the road-show of Bihar government to expedite the auction of Manjosh and Bhatta magnetite mineral blocks of Jamui district. The villagers said in a clear tone that the Minister should keep doing road shows, we will not give even an inch of land.
Expressing their concern, the villagers said that along with land degradation, mining would destroy their fertile lands. At the same time, environmental damage will cause deep damage to community resources and the environment. The livelihood of villagers dependent on farming will be in danger.
Many villagers including former head of Manjosh Vidhu Shekhar Singh, villagers Pratosh Kumar, Chandradev Singh, Subhakant Singh, Ranjit Singh, Rupesh Kumar, Ananth Kumar, Saurabh Kumar said that where should we go? Housing here, farming here? We will not go anywhere. Whatever tactics the government adopts, we will remain united. If necessary, we will approach the Supreme Court.
People of the affected areas including Manjosh are already protesting. The villagers are adamant on their demand to cancel the auction, which is raising questions on the process. Lack of local consensus may weaken investor confidence.
It may be noted that a road show was organized in Patna on Monday through video conferencing on the instructions of Deputy Chief Minister and Mines and Geology Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha. Investors, industry representatives and technical experts from different states participated in it. The last date for downloading tender documents has been fixed as 16 January at 5 pm.
It is noteworthy that in the year 2000, children of Manjosh village identified it while playing. GSI survey found high quality magnetite iron ore (better than hematite). About 48 million tonnes (4.84 crore tonnes), estimated value of Rs 25,000 crore.
The government has a scheme to acquire more than 84 hectares of land and give mining permission to private companies. However, this stance of the villagers reflects the long struggle against mining demarcation and land acquisition. The matter may now escalate further.