MADURAI: Farmers from the Melur block raised concern about the recent tender invitation for multi-colour granite quarries, during the farmers' grievance redressal meeting held in Madurai on Friday. "Quarrying for granite here will adversely affect water bodies and our agriculture fields," they said. They also recalled the strict actions taken by former collector U Sagayam against indiscriminate granite quarrying in the district.
In response, District Collector M S Sangeetha said no public hearing was called before inviting the tenders because as per regulations, a public hearing needs to be conducted only when the quarry area is beyond five hectares. "The villagers have already submitted their grievances and they have been duly forwarded to the department concerned," she added.
The farmers also raised concerns about the tungsten-related studies being held in the region. "Will the authorities permit tungsten mining here and ask all the residents to vacate," they asked. An official from the mines department said union government agencies are conducting the studies on over a 20-km area in Melur and surrounding areas. Meanwhile, the collector said the district administration has not been informed about any tungsten mining in the region yet.