The Kerala State Human Rights Commission (KSHRC) has sent a notice to Pallichal panchayat president, Chief Secretary and the DGP over a complaint related to Mookkunnimala, which is in the eye of a storm with the residents of Pallichal agitating against illegal mining in the hill.
The KSHRC sent the notice on a complaint by the Federation of Residents’ Associations Thiruvananthapuram (FRAT). In the complaint, FRAT said that illegal mining was taking place in Mookkunnimala and the people in the region were facing many difficulties.
FRAT also said that the life of the people living in the vicinity of the quarries was in danger because of the flying rocks that fall in their homes after the blasting. Moreover, they are also having many health issues, FRAT said.
In the complaint, FRAT demanded action against the officials and others who help the quarry mafia. Stating that they stood with the Mookkunnimala Samrakshana Samithi in its agitation against the closure of the quarries, FRAT president Pattom Sasidharan Nair and general secretary Maruthankuzhi Satheesh Kumar also demanded that the authorities should immediately take steps to stop all quarrying activities in the Mookkunnimala.
They also demanded that the government should bear the medical expenses of the people who have health issues owing to quarrying activities. All the cases against the Mookkkunnimala Samrakshana Samithi activists should be withdrawn, they said.