THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Mookunnimala, which was silent for the last few days, has once again started reverberating with the sounds of blasts from the quarries and crusher units, with some of the quarries resuming activities in the wake of a High Court order. Moreover, the Vigilance, that was to probe the quantum of loss incurred owing to illegal quarrying activities, has also backtracked from its investigation, stating inconvenience for the Total Station Survey (TSS) due to quarry activities in the region.
It was on February 9 that the district administration banned all the quarry activities at Mookunnimala as the mining permits obtained by the quarry units expired.
The District Collector had given strict instructions that licences should only be given adhering to the Green Tribunal order, which observed that the Pollution Control Board should not issue licences without the clearance of the Environment Impact Assessment Committee.
With the resumption of quarry activities, the Mookunnimala Samrakshana Samithi, which is already engaged in the agitation for a complete stop of all quarries, has decided to intensify the agitation in the coming days. It has decided to take out a protest march to the Mining and Geology Department on March 2.
Stating that all quarry activities in the region were illegal, Samithi joint convenor Surendra Kumar alleged that the quarry owners who did not have any documents when the Collector called for producing such papers have now told the Court that they possess the necessary papers.
He also asked from where these quarry owners had obtained the necessary papers now.
Even the Panchayat Deputy Director’s report had suggested the closure of all the quarries in Mookunnimala. The report had said that all the licences and papers that the quarry owners were in possession were illegal, Surendra Kumar said. It should also be noted that the Green Tribunal had banned all quarry activities in the region and had instructed the Pollution Control Board to not give licences for quarry activities in the region, he said.
Meanwhile, Neyyattinkara Tahasildar Sam L Sone claimed that no activities had resumed in Mookunnimala. ‘’We have given notice to the quarry owners who have got the order for resuming their activities to produce the HC order along with all the documents. A decision will be taken only after going through all the relevant papers,’’ he said.
A team of Revenue officials under the Assistant Tahasildar and the police visited all the quarries on Thursday itself to evaluate the situation. ‘’Our team did not find any activities going on there,’’ he said.
It is alleged that the district administration was yet to give a clear reply to the Vigilance team, who had communicated its inability to start the probe owing to quarry activities in the region.