The ongoing inspection of quarries in the district by the Ernakulam Rural police has exposed serious violations in their operations.
The inspection was triggered by a recent explosion of gelatine sticks stocked in a building near a stone quarry in lllithodu near Malayattoor that killed two migrant workers.
Quarry operators are supposed to appoint a ‘mine manager’ under the Mines Act with the prescribed qualifications. As per rules: “He shall, on instructions by or on behalf of the owner or the agent, be responsible for the overall management, control, supervision and direction of the mine or quarry.”
“The mine manager is supposed to oversee the operation of the quarry, including the use of explosives. However, it has to be suspected that many quarries just maintain that post in the payroll while not actually deploying one and explosions are undertaken by lay workers without any specialised knowledge,” said a senior police officer. Even in the instant case in Illithodu, someone had been shown as mine manager in the books though the police are yet to verify whether it was a mere decoy for official purposes.
The Explosive Rules, 2008, also calls for the employment of a ‘shot firer’ for blasting operations in compliance with the Mines Act. He is supposed to take all precautions against fire, accident, loss, pilferage etc., of the explosives and shall be personally held responsible for any contravention of the provisions of the Explosives Act.
It is also not clear how many quarries actually engage such a specialised person. The officer said that though quarry operators claim that they purchase explosives within the permissible limits to create a facade of compliance with the rules, many of them purchase more directly from explosives manufacturers on the sly.
“Besides, many operators stock these explosives in some kind of sheds near the blast site in violation of the safety distance prescribed by the law,” he said.
While the police claim to carry out the inspection without fail, the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation authorities clarified they haven’t received any such periodical reports.
