THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The district administration has commenced an investigation into the functioning of all the quarries in the district. Meanwhile, the police force has intensified raids on the quarries to ascertain whether any are operating illegally.
Stating an investigation has been started, special probe team head Deputy Collector (LR) V Vinodh said we have started collecting reports from various departments that are involved in giving permissions or licences to the quarries.
“We have started collecting reports from the Mining and Geology department, Controller of Explosives, Pollution Control Board, panchayat, village and taluk offices,” he told Thiruvananthapuram Express.
He said the quarries which were operating without proper documents have been shut down. The quarry owners have been asked to produce all documents, including the Non-Objection Certificates, licences and documents related to explosives and safety, before the Collector on December 8. All the papers will be scrutinised at the meeting and a stop memo will be issued to those quarries that do not produce relevant papers, he said.
The tahsildars have also been asked to investigate whether any of these quarries have encroached on puramboke land.
The squad has officials from the Pollution Control Board, Department of Mining and Geology, Health and Revenue Departments. Apart from looking into the functioning of the quarries, the team will probe aspects like safety, health and environmental degradation.
Meanwhile, District Police Chief (Thiruvananthapuram Rural) P Asok Kumar said the police department has intensified inspection of the quarries. “No quarry will be allowed to function without proper papers. We are even investigating whether these quarries have explosive licences. No compromise will be made and all the respective police officials have been asked to routinely check for any illegal activities at the quarries in their regions,” he said.
As of now, the district administration does not have a clear picture of the number of quarries functioning in the district. The administration hopes to get a detailed statistic of all the quarries by December 8 at the meeting of the quarry owners. However, sources said it will be a difficult task since the quarry owners might not come for the meeting. Reason: Most of them are functioning illegally.