MADURAI: Over 500 residents from 10 villages in Melur taluk gathered at Nayakkarpatti, raising slogans against the centre and demanding the cancellation of the licence granted to a private company to mine tungsten on an area of 5,000 acres.
Villagers have sought a resolution to be adopted in the upcoming grama sabha meeting to be held across the state on November 23. They also appealed to Chief Minister MK Stalin to intervene and stop the project.
Madurai MP S Venkatesan wrote to Minister of Coal G Kishan Reddy, urging the cancellation of the licence granted to the private company. In the letter, he explained that under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, the private company had successfully acquired the tungsten mineral block in the 4th auction of major minerals.
Venkatesan pointed out the environmental and historical significance of the 2015.51-hectare mineral block acquired by the private company. He referred to the state government gazette announcement from November 22, 2022, when the department of environment, forests and climate change designated 193.215 hectares in Arittapatti and Meenakshipuram of Madurai district as Tamil Nadu’s first biodiversity heritage site.
This area, Venkatesan noted, lies within the mineral block now auctioned for mining. He also highlighted the historical and ecological importance of the region, including relics dating back to 3,500 years and the presence of over 250 bird species in Arittapatti and surrounding areas.