Of 856 redstone quarry units in Dakshina Kannada, 365 are “unsafe” as they have either not been fenced or the abandoned ones have not been filled up.
Deputy Commissioner A.B. Ibrahim said here on Tuesday that such units were “unsafe” during the monsoon due to the accumulation of water. The 365 units include both live and dormant ones.
Earlier at a meeting, he reviewed the status of stone quarry units in the district on the backdrop of five deaths reported in such units during the last monsoon. The meeting was convened to take precautionary measures to prevent any such possible deaths this year. He said in the meeting that tahsildars and executive officers of taluk panchayats would be held responsible if there were any deaths in these units during this monsoon.
The Deputy Commissioner said that tahsildars and executive officers of taluk panchayats have been given a May-20 deadline for making them safe. If filling up abandoned quarry units was not possible, steps should be taken to ensure that rain water was drained out from such units or that they were fenced.
He said that the officials concerned should convene a meeting within this weekend for better coordination to take further steps. Mr. Ibrahim said that 220 dormant quarries have been closed in the district.
He added that if any household had been left out of the social and educational survey, they could call up 1077 or 080 – 4455 4444.
