MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Wednesday sought a response from the state government on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed seeking action against all illegal quarry activities in Karur district, including a quarry operated by Srirangam MLA M Palaniyandi, of the DMK.
Petitioner C Ezhilarasu, an advocate from Madurai, stated that based on an order passed by the high court in a petition filed by one MRK Siva, who alleged that illegal quarrying activities were being carried out at a large scale in Karur district, a joint inspection was conducted by officials at the quarries in question, including the one belonging to MLA Palaniyandi .
Following the inspection, Kulithalai's revenue divisional officer imposed a penalty of Rs 23.54 crore on Palaniyandi for engaging in illegal mining of nearly 5.36 lakh cubic metre of rough stones in excess, despite the expiry of the lease period.
While the MLA is yet to pay the said penalty amount, quarry activities continue to take place at the said site, the petitioner claimed. He added that this was the case in several quarries that he visited in the district. If the situation persists, the district would lose its natural resources and become uninhabitable, Ezhilarasu added and sought action against the illegal quarry operations.
A bench of justices D Krishnakumar and R Vijayakumar issued notice to the authorities concerned and adjourned the case to next week for the government's response.