COIMBATORE: With the Madras High Court setting a three-month deadline to close all pits dug up by brick kiln owners to quarry red sand in Thadagam Valley, the district administration has formed a six-member committee to study the viability of levelling the pits.
On March 2, a bench comprising Justices N Sathish Kumar and D Baratha Chakravarthy directed the state government to close all pits in the valley within three months. Following this, the district administration formed a committee, headed by the district collector and officials from Personal Assistant to the Collector (Agriculture), District Forest Officer, District Environmental Engineer from Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB), Coimbatore North, Assistant Director of Geology and Mining Department, Executive Engineer of PWD and Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO), Coimbatore North.
“A total of 876 plots across Chinnathadagam, Nanjundapuram, Pannimadai and Veerapandi Revenue Villages in the valley have been destroyed due to illegal red sand mining. However, the district administration has reported that only 569 fields have been dug up in the valley,” said S Ganesh, one of the petitioners against brick kilns.
“On hearing the petition, the court directed that land reclamation survey has to be conducted involving experts to arrive best possible way to mitigate the damages caused by quarrying so as to make the land fit for cultivation within three months,” he said.
Welcoming the formation of the committee, he urged the district collector to include petitioners in the committee. District Collector Kranthi Kumar Pati said, “The committee would prepare a report about viability for executing the order. The committee will finalize its report soon.” A total of 177 illegal brick kilns in the valley were sealed after the HC’s order in January, 2021.