KOLLAM: Velichikkala, a tiny sleepy village about 20 km away from Kollam city, has found a place in the annals of the history of the Greens movement in the state.
It was four years back on May 12 that the people in the village launched their struggle for survival. It was on this day in 2005 that people residing near the clay mines in the area launched their agitation to block mining.
Shortage of drinking water, cracks appearing on the walls of the houses, health problems etc. all forced them to resort to such an action. Clay mining was started in the area in 1993-94 by Bharati Clays, a company owned by a retired officer in the Mining Department. He was a member of the team appointed by the government to study the mineral deposits in the area. He managed to take 3.1859 hectares of land on lease for 20 years on the pretext of staring a cashew factory and a shoe-making company. Though the local people resisted when the company started clay-mining, they did not succeed to prevent it. In 2004, Rajasthan-based Volkem Clay company took over mining in the area by taking 4.1680 hectares of land on lease for 30 years. When the resistance mounted, they left the scene in 2007.
After that, the Delhi-based English Indian Clays owned by the Thapar group had been carrying out mining activities.
The company has encroached upon about 2 acres of land. The company has been guzzling up 6 lakh litres of groundwater per day for the mining purposes. This is bigger than what the Coca-Cola company exploited at Plachimada which was around 4.50 lakh litres per day.
The drinking water shortage became acute a few years ago as almost all the wells in the surrounding areas had dried up. Water and air pollution is another big problem confronting the people in the area. Huge amounts of water used for the clay separation process and contaminated with various chemicals are being let out into the nearby Pallimon river and paddy fields.
As per the standards prescribed by the World Health Organisation, the water in the wells of the area are not good for drinking or bathing as the PH count of it has come down to a negligibly low level. The company has no water treatment plant or arrangements for the disposal of wastes.
A team from the State Pollution Control Board, after visiting the area in 2007, had recommended the closure of the company in its report submitted to the government. Incidents of cancer, asthma, allergy, skin and bronchial diseases are high in the area. This was a found in a medical camp conducted by the Kollam DMO in 2005.
On the basis of the report by the DMO, the Nedumpana grama panchayat had cancelled the licence of the company. However, it was restored a few months ago at the instance of the Industrial Tribunal.
BETRAYAL BY POLITICAL PARTIES When the Action Council was formed in 2005 all the major political parties - CPM, CPI and Congress - had cooperated with it. Later they gradually withdrew from it raising the argument of industrialisation and employment opportunities.
V.S. Achuthanandan in his capacity as the Opposition Leader had visited the area and urged the then Chief Oommen Chandy to close down the factory. After becoming the Chief Minister, he took no steps for the same despite the repeated pleas made by the Action Council. Interestingly, Oommen Chandy also visited the place when he became the Opposition Leader and expressed solidarity with the agitators.
In the recent Lok Sabha elections, more than 160 families in the areas of clay mining had boycotted the elections in protest against the approach of the main political parties towards their problem. Now the agitation is spearheaded by the Kollam Jilla Paristhiti Samrakshana Ekopana Samithi and groups of social and cultural organisations.They have organised a series of agitations during the past four years.”We are determined to continue our agitation till the company stops the mining,’’ says Odanavattom Vijayaprakash, the convener of the Action Council.
The Velichikkala Action Council will organise a march and dharna in front of the Kollam Collectorate on May 12, on the occasion of the fourth anniversary of the launching of the agitation.
