MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on Thursday directed the Chief Wildlife Warden of Tamil Nadu to send a report to the National Board of Wildlife (NBWL) within six weeks on 29 quarries situated in the eco-sensitive zones in Kanniyakumari district.
A bench comprising Justices M Sathyanarayanan and B Pugalendhi issued further directions to the NBWL to pass orders on the applications filed by the quarry operators seeking environmental clearance, based on the report, within eight weeks. The case has been adjourned to October 15.
The directions came in response to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by one G Jose Freddy Miller of Kalkulam Taluk in Kanniyakumari district seeking cancellation of licence granted to the quarries in eco-sensitive zones in the district.
During the hearing on Thursday, the counsel appearing for the litigant submitted that “nearly seven of the 29 quarries are inoperative now”. “The seven quarries had functioned for nearly four years without obtaining environmental clearance, and have exhausted the natural resources there,” he contended, and prayed the court to impose penalty on the inoperative quarries.
According to Miller, the villages — Meycode, Ponmanai, Velimalai and Surulacode — of Kalkulam taluk are situated at the foothills of Western Ghats and fall under the eco-sensitive zones of Kanyakumari Wildlife Sanctuary. There are around 1,000 families residing in these villages and nearly 10 schools, two colleges, and 10 hospitals are in the said area, he stated.
However, several quarries were permitted to operate in the eco-sensitive zones, submitted Miller. He prayed the court to cancel the licence granted to the quarry operators in the zone and protect the hill areas.