THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With several inquiries initiated against the illegal mining activities taking place in puramboke lands in the district, the quarry owners are alleged to be duping the district administration by planting vegetation in the mined lands for retaining the encroached property. For the past several years, the quarries had been left open with no such activity initiated.
Taking a cue from the Supreme Court verdict which said the abandoned quarries should be restored through landfills and plantation of trees, the owners have started to fill the quarries in some places which had not been done for the last several years. “This is only to dupe the district administration to claim the land is under cultivation,” said leaders of Thanalvedi and Western Ghats Protection Ekopana Samithi.
Stating the quarry owners had not filled the huge gorges to restore the land till now, Thanalvedi general secretary S Unnikrishnan said the sudden change in their attitude had given rise to serious doubts about the actual intention. Thanalvedi is an organisation leading the fight against illegal quarrying in Peringadavila and Kunnathukal region.
“All these years there were no attempts to restore the mined land. But only when inquiries started to come they have started to fill the land. It is only an attempt to claim the rights over the poramboke lands. Once the lands are said to be under cultivation, the revenue officers never initiate any action,’’ he said, citing Therani Hills in Peringadavila Panchayat as an instance. It was barely 2 km away from the Therani hills the recent quarry deaths occurred. Unnikrishnan alleged the quarry owners had started cultivating pineapple in the region so as to claim the land was under cultivation for a long time.
“The mined lands are filled with rock waste and then filled with mud. After this they start cultivation. When the revenue authorities come for inspection, they see the land is being used for cultivation and not for mining purposes. In the name of cultivation, the revenue authorities never initiate any action with respect to encroachment,” he said. A representation has been made to the authorities concerned to look into the issue but they never cared to do so .
Western Ghats Protection Ekopana Samithi convener Shaji Peringadavila, who concurred with Unnikrishnan on this front, said this was not limited to Peringadavila and Kunnathukal but was quite evident in other places also. ‘’The authorities never care to inspect the quarries. It is the revenue and mining officers who are aiding these quarry owners,’’ he said.
He said the revenue authorities should take immediate steps to take back all the puramboke lands which are now with the quarries. Meanwhile, repeated attempts to reach the District Collector as well as the Deputy Collector, entrusted with the inquiry of the quarries, for their comment did not succeed.