Licensed quarries can function: Collector

Quarry owners have to follow bench method while mining

Quarries with licences as per the norms will have no hindrance to function in the district, District Collector K.Vasuki has said.

Speaking at a meeting with quarry-crusher owners and Revenue, Geology and Police Department officials at the collectorate on Wednesday, she said that illegal quarries will not be allowed to function and stringent action will be taken against them.

The quarry owners will have to follow the bench method as stipulated in the mining plan. This mining method, in which mining activity is carried out in separate levels, is required to ensure safe mining. Most of the quarries function without retaining the bench. Large cuts are often made in a vertical fashion, making the rock structure unstable. This was one of the reasons for the caving in of a portion of a privately-owned granite quarry at Marayamuttan near Neyyatinkara in November last, in which two people were killed and seven others injured.

The Collector said that those quarries which are currently functioning without retaining benches should take necessary steps to correct this. A period of three months will be given to the quarries to complete these steps. Safety is paramount in workplaces and no compromise will be allowed in this, said the Collector.

The applications for quarries will be scrutinised and licences will be provided in a time-bound manner, if the applicants are found to be eligible. On Wednesday, the quarry-crusher owners in the district were asked to produce their licences and other relevant documents to the district administration.

The officials from revenue, geology, panchayat, police and pollution control board scrutinised the documents. The meeting also decided to check the complaints that have been received against various quarries in the district and take action, if necessary.