PATHANAMTHITTA: It’s unlikely that a quarry owner here would pen a Dale Carnegie-like best seller, but there is no place like the blasted hills of Pathanamthitta, if someone wants to pick up the art of winning friends and influencing people.
That quarry owners in the district wield a tremendous amount of soft power, by virtue of sweet, talking money was evident, while talking to locals who benefit from the business. An elderly woman, who resides close to a controversial quarry in Adoor, was furious when asked about her opinion on the opposition to the functioning of the mine.
“These environmentalists are opportunists. They start and stop agitations whenever they want. They don’t bother how ordinary people struggle to eke out a living,” she fumed. Her anger against the livelihood-threatening agitation was not without a cause. She makes Rs. 100 for every entry made on a log book whenever a truck loaded with granite passes through the road in front of her house.
Six taluks in the district are witnessing popular agitations against the quarries, but the owners - omnipotent benefactors - have only widened their circle of influence.
“They are ready to sponsor local festivals and will make handsome contributions to marriages and other community events. Many supply books and study material to needy students. Some supply water in tankers, in case there is water shortage. These acts of philanthropy make them the darling of the masses,” said Peelipose Thomas, former DCC president, who was part of several anti-quarry agitations.
The quality of granite found in Pathanamthitta, the third least populated district with 452 people per sq km, is not much different from the mineral found elsewhere in the state, but certain socio-economic conditions have facilitated their easy mining.
Many of the quarries are found on the foothills of the Western Ghats - a transitional zone between the highranges and midland. “Pathanamthitta has many isolated spots, which makes it vulnerable to encroachment and mining,” said P K Thampi, former head, Geosciences Division of CESS. The region, flush with NRK money, is known for the construction boom and the resultant indiscriminate mining of resources.
There was a time when a transfer to Pathanamthitta, a district with poor connectivity and inaccessible spots, was considered an anathema, but not any more. According to sources, just before the episode of alleged corruption involving district police chief Rahul R Nair, around 12 cops working in the mid-level were keen on securing a post in the district. The rocks of Pathanamthitta can melt the hardest of khaki hearts.
(to be concluded)