A section of the residents of Kodishettipura, near Srirangapatna in the district, staged a demonstration outside the office of Deputy Commissioner here on Tuesday demanding the closure of stone quarrying and crushing units in their vicinity.
Some villagers had sustained injuries in a blast at an illegal stone quarry unit at their village late on Monday. According to the villagers, pieces of a huge rock hit their houses in the blast.
Srinivas (59), one of the victims, protested by sleeping at the entrance of the office for a while. He expressed his unhappiness over the alleged lethargic attitude of the officials of the Department of Mines and Geology with regard to closing the units. There are 16 stone crushing units and around 60 stone quarrying, both legal and illegal, units in the vicinity of the village. The blasting of boulders using gelatine sticks, dynamite and other explosive substances is rampant here as the authorities concerned do not curb illegal activities, the villagers alleged.
They demanded that the stone crushers and quarrying units, both legal and illegal, be moved to another place as blasting in their area was proving dangerous to the people and damaging buildings.
The agitators said that they would intensify the protest if their demands were not met.
