Fresh efforts to revive quarries in the hills ranges of Vellarada have sparked fears among the local populace of an ecological imbalance that could endanger their lives. The move is also an indicator that the spate of landslips that hit the State recently has apparently done little to quell mining in ecologically fragile regions.
Led by the Action Council Vellarada and the Sahyaparvatha Samrakshana Samiti, the residents have thwarted every attempt to establish quarrying units in the region since 2010.
But this time, the quarrying lobby is propping up the requirement of construction materials for the Vizhinjam seaport project to revive the activity.
“Our worst fears appear to have come true. A firm has entered into an agreement with the multi-port operator Adani Vizhinjam Port Pvt. Ltd. to operationalise quarries from which half of the produce mined will be supplied for the port project. The deal has been struck by deliberately concealing various illegalities that were associated with the rampant quarrying in the region,” J. Geetha, vice-chairperson of the Sahyaparvatha Samrakshana Samiti, alleged.
Many such attempts
The hill ranges including the seven-km-long Koonichy-Kondaketty range, which form part of the tail-end of the Western Ghats, have witnessed numerous attempts to establish manufactured sand (M-sand) plants in the area. All such efforts have turned futile with the local community’s long-drawn agitation paving the way for the last of the 36 small-scale quarrying units concluding its operations two years ago.
The agitators allege that large tracts of land were usurped by certain groups by forging title deeds as well as coercing local residents to cede their properties at rates fixed by them.
Rampant land-grabbing in the region was also exposed by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau in an inquiry conducted in 2011.
Landslip threat
Besides, the State Expert Appraisal Committee, an expert body under the State-level Environment Impact Assessment Authority, highlighted the threat of landslips while considering the application for environmental clearance for a proposed quarry project in 2013. As many as 37 people were killed in a massive landslip that had occurred in the nearby Amboori town in 2001.
According to samiti patron V. Resallayan, the action council will move the court, seeking an order forbidding quarrying in the area. All of the earlier court verdicts and government findings have favoured the local residents so far.
Last-ditch attempt
The current effort to cash in on the urgency of the Vizhinjam port project appear to be a last-ditch attempt by the quarry lobby, he says.
The local people of Vellarada will also hold an agitation proclamation on September 21.
The agitators will march from the shades of the mango tree, planted by poet-activist Sugathakumari at the Koothaly junction during the launch of their nine-year-long vigil in April 2010. Purogamana Kalasahithya Sangham (PuKaSa) president and noted filmmaker Shaji N. Karun will formally inaugurate the agitation.
