The Tenkasi Natural Resources Conservation Association has decided to organise a demonstration on April 1, ‘All Fools Day’ as illicit mining and uncontrolled transporting of stones and minerals to Kerala continue with no measure to check this business.
Dismayed over the officials inaction to curb this illicit business, former MLA K. Ravi Arunan, who is also the president of the Association, has sent a petition to Chief Minister M.K. Stalin seeking effective action to save the district from this.
The former MLA said the stones being mined in Tenkasi district were being transported in 300 lorries every day with each long-chases vehicles carrying up to 60 tonne of stones to Kerala, a State that does not allow mining in any form. Even though the permits given for taking the stones to Kerala were being used illegally, the officials, who are aware of this, were helping.
While returning to the quarries in Tenkasi, the lorries bring electronic, biomedical, plastic, poultry and marine wastes and dump it on the open grounds to cause health hazards, he charges.
“A random check of the CCTV cameras fitted at the check-posts close to Tenkasi – Kerala border will narrate clearly about the number of lorries carrying stones, M-sand and other minerals to the neighbouring State and the waste these trucks bring back from Kerala,” says Mr. Ravi Arunan.
He says that the modified heavy vehicles were carrying up to 13 units of stones (60 tonnes), which is being sold at Rs. l.82 lakh in Kerala even though each pass is given for carrying 3 unit per vehicle. Even though overloading is a punishable offence, no truck drivers respect this rule as the officials are mute spectators.
“We know that our natural resources are being plundered by a few people with political and caste backing. But we’re helpless as our hands are tied by a few powerful people based in Chennai. So, we’ve to be only spectators,” said a senior government official.
The overloading has damaged several rural roads, especially in Kadayam where it has become unmotorable and cause accidents. Almost all the quarries have installed powerful generators in a bid to avoid the electricity consumption.
“Since most of these generators have not been connected with ‘change over switch’, the power returns to the neighbouring connections via the transformer. Even though a farmer suffered an electric shock due to this, no action was taken against the quarry owner. So, the government should instruct the quarry owners to install CCTV cameras at vantage points to monitor them. The quarries should not be allowed to operate between 5 p.m. and 7 a.m.,” Mr. Arunan said.
Tenkasi, which was known as ‘vegetable basket’ of southern Tamil Nadu, may lose this title in near future as the vegetable ranches are struggling for want of water. “Since these quarries are deep up to 200 feet, water level in most of the irrigation wells situated close to the quarries are very low. We, now supply vegetables to Kerala and may be forced to buy vegetable from Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh in future,” said farmer N. Balasubramanian of Shencottai.
Even though officials say they were taking action to curb this illegal activity, the number of Kerala-bound lorries with stones, M-sand and other minerals disprove their claim.
“We firmly believe that the officials are fooling us… Hence, we’ve decided to stage demonstration on April 1, the ‘All Fools Day’, in front of Tenkasi new bus-stand,” said S. Jameen, general secretary of Tenkasi District Natural Resources Conservation Association.
