TENKASI: The Tamil Nadu government on Monday suspended licences of 18 out of 54 stone quarries functioning across Tenkasi district due to violations of mining rules. The action was taken based on the first phase of inspection conducted by three teams of officials led by assistant collectors.
“Based on the complaints received from the people of Tenkasi, these teams were formed by Collector A K Kamal Kishore. The teams will submit their detailed report, based on which a further course of action will be initiated,” an official press release stated.
Earlier, in the wee hours of the day, Minister for Natural Resources, Minerals and Mines Dr T K Prabhu, visited the checkpost at Puliyarai located close to Kerala border and inspected the movement of mineral-laden trucks to the state, verified transit passes, and inquired about the strength of police personnel deployed there.
He questioned the absence of revenue and mines officials at the checkpost and raised concerns over the discrepancies in the attendance register of the staff. The minister also spoke to the drivers of heavy vehicles transporting blue metal and rough stones. He also instructed officials to take stringent action against overloaded trucks.
Prabhu also inspected a private weighbridge and checked if the weight mentioned in the pass matched the actual combined weight of the truck and minerals. The weight of each truck along with its mineral load was found to be around 54,000 kg for 18-wheeled vehicles, sources said. The inspection lasted from 1 am to 2 am.
Officials of the minerals department who were on a two-day inspection had issued a limited number of passes on Saturday and Sunday. However, soon after Prabhu concluded his visit on Monday, over 100 mineral-laden trucks queued up at the Puliyarai checkpost in the early morning hours.