The Madurai district unit of Tamil Nadu Farmers’ Association (TNFA) staged a protest near Collectorate premises here on Tuesday condemning the delay in releasing the report on illegal granite quarrying scam in the district submitted by IAS officer U. Sagayam, who investigated the scam as the Legal Commissioner appointed by Madras High Court.
Raising slogans against Tamil Nadu government for the delay, the protesting members of the group also blamed the government for not compensating the farmers who lost their fertile land because of illegal granite quarrying.
P. Shanmugam, State general secretary, TNFA, pointed out that it has been close to two years since the team led by Mr. Sagayam submitted its report. “The hesitance of the government to release the report only shows that it is trying to cover up the scam and is not interested to initiate action against the offenders,” he said.
Alleging that the scam had the involvement of many politicians and officials, including IAS officers, he demanded that the investigation into the scam be transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). “The investigations had already been delayed for long. Further delay will be denial of justice,” he said.
N. Palanichamy, president, Tamil Nadu Sugarcane Farmers Association, who is also part of TNFA, said that farmers were coerced to give away thousands of acres of fertile land by the granite mafia for quarrying.
“It is not only the farm lands, but also ponds, tanks and canals that were destroyed, because of which farming has collapsed. Hence, the farmers in the area should be adequately compensated,” he said.
