TENKASI: Residents of Theertharappapuram near Anainthaperumal Nadanoor, and Chellapillaiyarkulam condemned the proposal to set up the third stone quarry in their area, at a public hearing chaired by the Revenue Divisional Officer of Tenkasi Gangadevi and District Environmental Engineer Suyambu Thangarani on Thursday.
Speaking at the public hearing, a resident Balamurugan said that while the villagers are already struggling to handle the pollution caused by the existing two stone quarries, the state government should not allow one more quarry in their area.
“We approached the state government and National Green Tribunal to address the violation of environmental laws by the existing quarries. However, the State government did not take any action against them. Now, in the proposal report, the officials failed to mention the primary school and primary health centre located close to the third quarry.
As the quarries are located on the roadside, even ambulance service to and from the village is interrupted while the quarry owners used illegal explosives,” he added. Another resident Ramarajan demanded the higher officials visit their villages before giving permission for the new stone quarry. Jaya Arasan, Muthu and many other villagers also raised their voices against the new quarry.
“Due to the illegal blasting of explosives by the existing quarries, our houses are already damaged and there are cracks in the walls. The dust from the quarries forces the residents to stay indoors. The farmers in the area are also affected as they are unable to cultivate crops following the depletion of groundwater levels triggered by the huge pits dug by the quarries. Some farm wells have already collapsed due to the illegal blasting of quarries that aggressively dig into the earth to extract and transport minerals to Kerala,” they alleged.
Thamaraikannan, a civil engineer, supported the quarry citing that the quarries supply the raw material required for the construction of buildings.
A few quarry workers and a tractor driver demanded the government give permission for the new quarry. In response, the vice president of Idaikal Panchayat, Dharmaraj, alleged that the quarry owners had brought some persons to the hearing by giving them Rs 500 as bribes.
Gangadevi concluded the public hearing promising that she would bring the concerns to the State government.