The All Kerala River Protection Committee has appealed to the Chief Minister, Industries Minister, and the Director of the Department of Mining and Geology not to issue more quarry licences to improve revenue as mentioned in the Medium Term Fiscal Policy Statement of the government. In a detailed letter, committee State secretary T.V. Rajan pointed out that the State could earn more revenue by making minor changes to the existing rules.
Slamming the move to allow quarrying in leased land and ‘pattayam’ land, the committee said scientific analysis, instead of diluting the existing laws on mining, could earn the government more profit from the existing quarries.
The Kerala Minor Minerals Concession Rules (KMMC) 2015 were formulated on the basis of a Supreme Court judgment of 2012. Environmental clearance was made mandatory for every quarry under the rules. However, certain clauses were added to the rules, which enabled quarry owners to bypass the apex court order on environment clearance. At present, a no-objection certificate (NOC) is enough to start a quarry in government land. If leased land and pattayam land are also made available, the entire State will be open for the mining mafia, the letter said. Besides, the premise that a quarry owner could keep up to 495 acres in his possession, is viewed as a precursor of allowing quarrying in plantation land as well.
The committee has suggested a change in the consolidated royalty payment (CRP) system for the government to earn more from quarries. It said the CRP was meant to help quarry owners and not the State.
The committee suggested that the KMMC Rules, which have several loopholes, be cancelled, and new rules be formulated after proper assessment to save the State from a grievous environmental disaster. It is even contemplating to approach the court in this regard.
