COIMBATORE: Pulled up by the Madras High Court for not implementing its order, officials got down to work on Friday and sealed brick kilns functioning without licence in Thadagam Valley. Twenty illegal brick kilns were sealed on the first day of the crackdown. T Mahesh, Tahsildar of Coimbatore North Taluk confirmed the development to TNIE, and added that all illegal units in the valley would be shut soon.
The court ordered closure of the kilns while hearing a petition filed by S Rajendran of Veerapandi in Coimbatore. Petitioner claimed that as many as 197 brick kilns were functioning in the valley, which comprises five revenue villages Chinna Thadagam, 24 Veerapandi Pirivu, Somayampalayam, 22 Nanjundapuram and Pannimadai.
He submitted that red sand was mined in an indiscrimate manner by the kilns and that on an average 80 to 120 feet was being excavated. All the units were illegal as the valley comes under the jurisdiction of Hill Area Conservation Authority (HACA).
Hearing the submission, the High Court on January 6 directed Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board and district administration of Coimbatore to take action against the brick kilns. Since officials failed to comply with the direction, the court passed another order on February 10 and demanded that a compliance report be submitted within six weeks.
On Friday, a team comprising officials from revenue, pollution control board, geology and mining, forest, police, electricity, agricultural departments and HACA started sealing the units in the valley.