TIRUNELVELI: The residents of Erukkandurai village on Wednesday demanded the state government to make the two check-posts, set up by the police and mines and minerals departments here, functional. The check-posts were set up five months back in a bid to seize overloaded mineral-laden trucks from 20 stone quarries of the village.
Speaking to TNIE, M Dhanasekaran, a resident and advocate from Erukkandurai, said the Radhapuram Tahsildar, in a reply to his petition, had assured to make the check-posts functional on November 23, 2023 itself. "However, no steps were taken by the state government to post police personnel or mines and mineral officials at these check-posts and inaugurate them. Both of these were set up after Erukkandurai residents protested against overloaded mineral-laden trucks and illegal quarrying. After construction, these were left to ruin," he added.
In another reply to Dhanasekaran, Radhapuram Tahsildar said that a monitoring committee meeting of the officials had passed a resolution on October 12, 2023 to conduct a survey by the police and mines and mineral departments on the 20 stone quarries, which are functioning in Erukkandurai area, to find out if they are violating any government rules. "However, no such survey was conducted by the officials," Dhanasekaran added.
He further said, "The state government has permitted 20 stone quarries to mine stones in Erukkandurai village (part 1 & 2), situated just 5 km of aerial distance away from Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant."