MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court recently issued a notice to the Kanniyakumari collector on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition seeking action against the illegal quarrying of rough stones on government land in Meycode village of Kanniyakumari.
The litigant, L Albert Raj, a resident of Attoor village alleged in the petition that some private individuals, who had obtained a quarry licence for a patta land in Meycode village, were illegally mining rough stones from an adjacent government land measuring around 24 hectares.
They were also using the Chithirancode -Marthandam Road (via Verkalambi and Samiyarmadam) to transport the quarried minerals to Kerala, the petitioner claimed. This has led to air and water pollution, and has affected the life of residents of Meycode and neighbouring villages, he added.
Though the villagers organised several agitations and lodged numerous complaints against the said activities, the officials have not addressed the issue yet, he stated and sought the court's intervention. A bench comprising Justices R Subramanian and L Victoria Gowri issued a notice to the collector, among others, and adjourned the case.