: Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader and social activist Medha Patkar has urged the State government to constitute a judicial commission to asses the loss to the exchequer and damage to environment due to indiscriminate quarrying at Mookkunnimala.
After a visit to the quarry sites at Mookkunnimala on Saturday, she told reporters that the hillock had been indiscriminately exploited with the active connivance of the government.
Horrible sight
“It’s a horrible sight — an entire hillock has been wiped off. The exploitation of hillocks will prove detrimental to the ecology of the region. The government should constitute a judicial commission to asses the loss to the exchequer and ecology,” she said.
Mining had affected the livelihood of a large number of people.
The quarrying at Mookkunnimala was a classic example of how government machinery bends established norms to serve the interests of the mining mafia, Ms. Patkar said.
State within a State
“It is also strange that mining goes on unchecked even after government had admitted that quarrying at the hillock was illegal. The mining mafia has become a State within the State.
The people cannot depend on the judiciary or the police to stop this illegal extraction. You need to continue the fight,” she said.
Ms. Patkar was highly critical of Speaker N. Sakthan for allegedly extending tacit support to the quarry owners.
She wound up the tour to the area after extending all support to the Mookkunnimala Samrakshana Samara Samithi, which spearheads the agitation against mining.
