Raising the rusty dust of red soil Premium

Over 100-year-old school library in Sawantwadi taluka faces threat from potential mining, sparking environmental and health concerns.

The Ajgaon zila parishad government school library in Sawantwadi taluka, in Sindhudurg district, Maharashtra, is over 100 years old. On the first floor of the building, about 40 people between 20 and 70 are gathered from the villages around. On the walls are painted pictures of Savitribai Phule, C.V. Raman, and other social reformers. People have come in from neighbouring villages to discuss their worry over the ongoing geological survey for a potential mine in Nanos village.

Mahadev Shetye, 52, a farmer from Nanos, says that in October 2024, when he was climbing the hill to his farm, he heard the sound of machines drilling the earth and felt tremors. He ventured into the forest and saw a patch of land had been cleared of fruit trees. Mahadev himself grows cashew, mango, jackfruit, along with chawli (black-eyes peas), and suran (elephant foot yam).

He says he saw three men holding “some machines”. One, sitting next to a jar of red paint with a brush in hand, was marking a plastic box that held samples of stones and soil. “They said they had been hired by a mining company to conduct a survey of the land, as there could be a mineral to be mined. I rushed to the sarpanch (village head) with other residents of Nanos, but she too was not aware of this,” says Mahadev.

In July 2022, the Directorate of Geology and Mining, Government of Maharashtra, had commissioned an iron ore mine in Agralvadi and Nanos villages on 372 hectares of land to the Goa-based Sociedade De Fomento Industrial Pvt Ltd. The first villagers say they heard about it was in October 2024, with the start of drilling sounds.

The Nanos population of around 600 people, is against the impending mining. They feel it will upset the balance of natural resources that will in turn impact their livelihood. From the mining experience of another neighbouring village, Redi, they also fear health conditions that come from the red dust that hangs in the air.

The next shock for the residents came when they learnt about another agreement signed between JSW Steel Limited and the District Mining Officer of Sindhudurg, Government of Maharashtra, in 2024. This granted a prospecting licence of iron ore in the Ajgaon block, which included Shiroda, Aravali, Talavne, Nanos, and Malewad villages of Sawantwadi taluka.

JSW Steel Ltd has been given the right to conduct an initial investigation of geology and mineral resources in 849 hectares of land for iron ore, manganese, chrome, and nickel associated minerals. A prospecting licence for mining is a government permit granted by the government to a mining company to conduct initial investigations to determine if mining operations are viable in that location. If minerals are discovered, a mining lease is granted.