TIRUNELVELI: Demanding the state government to cancel the licence of private stone quarries functioning in their areas, over 200 residents of Thathanoothu near Tirunelveli staged a sit-in protest. The protesters alleged that the quarries were violating various government norms, and also urged not to provide approval for new quarries, on Tuesday. The residents claimed that the quarry officials were using high-power explosives illegally, causing cracks in the walls of their houses.
The protesters said that more than 100 residents of nearby Pappankulam village had vacated their houses recently due to illegal activities by the stone quarry operators. "The quarry authorities dig borewells, insert high-power explosives into them and blast them to break the stones, in violation of the norms. As a result, our entire residential units shake. This causes inconvenience to elderly patients, pregnant women and infants.
Most of the house walls in our area have developed cracks, leading to fear of collapse. Due to the depletion of groundwater, farm wells do not have enough water for cultivation. While the quarries have a permit to mine the stone to 50 metres, almost all the quarries have dug deeper pits ranging between 100 and 400 metres. After extracting the mineral, the quarries' pits are abandoned by its owners, and some residents and cattle of Thathanoothu have drowned in such pits," said the protesters.
The residents also blamed the quarries for transporting stones without valid passes and overloading the trucks. "The officials of the revenue and mines department are not conducting field inspections. Now, some people have applied to set up new quarries here. The quarry authorities brought the outsiders for the public hearing held in this connection. However, an MLA from Tirunelveli district and a councillor from Tirunelveli corporation are acting in favour of new quarries. The state government should not allow anyone to set up new quarries within a two-km radius of residential units," the residents said.