The recent massive crackdown by the district administration and police at PRP Exports, a granite mining company at Melur near Madurai, leading to its sealing should have given the jitters to someone else in Madurai—Union Chemical Minister M K Alagiri.
For, when the police filed a First Information Report against PRP Exports owner P R Palanichamy, it also filed an FIR against Olympus Granites, a company owned by Alagiri’s son, Dhayanidhi Alagiri for illegal quarrying.
Though the owners of the granite companies, including Dhayanidhi Alagiri, moved the court seeking anticipatory bail, they have not yet been granted the relief they wanted.
Meanwhile, one of the former managers of Olympus Granites, Manikandan, has been arrested, this should have added to the worry of the Union Minister’s son, who is said to be in hiding. Maybe he would have to make an appearance at the court when his anticipatory bail hearing comes up on August 14, an official said.
“Dhayanidhi and one Nagaraj are partners in Olympus Granites which had illegally engaged in mining in an area owned by the Tamil Nadu Minerals Limited (TAMIN),” Keelavalavu Village Administrative Officer (VAO) Parthiban said.
However sources close to Dhayanidhi claimed that he had ceased to be a partner in the firm in 2010. But then Manikandan was the manager when Dhayanidhi was the partner of the firm. So, it is said that it is only a matter of time Dhayanidhi is picked up, sources said.
The irregularities allegedly committed by the various granite companies that are now under the scanner is enormous. As the E Malmpatti VAO Mohammed Ali said: “PRP Exports had encroached upon five acres of government land for carrying out mining. Later, they brought sand in around 300 trucks to cover the illegal quarry sites in Erichakulam irrigation channel.
This is the second complaint to be registered against the firm.” “Totally 12 FIRs including 11 have been filed against granite quarry owners for illegal mining,” a senior revenue officer said.
Officials used the global positioning system to survey the quarried region to ascertain how much devastation has been caused by long-time illegal quarrying.
During the crackdown, the authorities faced stiff resistance from the 7,000 strong work force of PRP Exports.
After the authorities managed to break the cordon that was made to prevent their entry into the premises, they also found that the company had dumped waste into irrigation tanks, causing adverse damage to the environment.
The district administration had filed a dozen criminal complaints against granite companies, including PRP Exports and Olympus Granites, after a report compiled by former Madurai Collector U Sagayam estimated a loss of several crore rupees to the exchequer due to alleged illegal quarrying.
- Sunday Standard