PATHANAMTHITTA: The contentious functioning of Ponmala quarry in Thottappuzhassery panchayat, near here, just got murkier with documents revealing that the quarry is working on ‘poramboke’ land. The documents accessed from the Mining and Geology Department through an RTI request filed by the Ponmala Agitation Committeerevealed that the quarry was functioning in 1.10 acres of ‘poramboke’ land. No information on the ownership documents was available on the remaining 1.50 acres of land under the custody of quarry owner.
The district administration had given the ownership rights for the ‘poramboke’ land in 1999 on a request that the area of land was less as per the deed available with him. But the quarry owner paid the land tax only in 2005, the documents revealed. Meanwhile, the documents also divulged the fact that the M sand unit functioning on the quarry premises lacked legal authorisation, including the approval from the RDO and the panchayat.
