Sample this. Chandramathy of Kaithackal at Mannady passed away in 2014. But a revenue record says she had filed an affidavit before the Adoor Tahsildar on April 30, 2018, seeking permission for quarrying on the patta land in her possession at Kannimala in Kadamabanad village. More interestingly, the overleaf of the stamp paper used for filing the affidavit shows that Chandramathy herself purchased the stamp paper on April 30, 2018.
“What more proof we need to guess the huge corruption involved in the official process of granting permission for granite and earth quarrying in the otherwise sleepy village of Kadambanad?” asks Avinash Palleenazhikathu, Western Ghats Protection Council (WGPC) district president.
Mr Avinash alleged that the village officer had given no objection certificate (NOC) for granite quarrying on the land even in 2011, disregarding the government order that no quarrying should be permitted on a patta land.
He said granite quarrying defying rules at Kannimala was stopped following strong public protests against it four years ago. And now, with reports that the Revenue department was giving no-objection certificate for granite quarrying at Kannimala, the local people were gearing up to launch yet another mass movement against it, he said.
Mr Avinash told The Hindu that the data collected by the WGPC as per the Right To Information Act showed that the Revenue authorities were unable to provide the details of the patta (titles) of the 42.79 acres of government land at Kannimala in Kadambanad village issued to a private party for farming. The taluk office and the village office said in their RTI replies that the documents of the patta land were not available.
There was a Government Order categorically denying setting up of any industry that came under the Red Category in patta lands. Hence there was every reason to suspect massive corruption in the Revenue department issuing no-objection certificate for earth and granite quarrying from the area, he alleged.
Mr Avinash said the WGPC had already moved the State Vigilance authority, seeking a high-level inquiry into the entire issue.
According to Mr Avinash, the quarry lobby have already mined granite to a depth of 60 to 100 metres, in gross violation of the existing law that permitted quarrying only up to a depth of six metres from the ground level. He said Kannimala and surrounding areas were in the grip of acute water scarcity owing to this rampant razing of hills and rocks in the locality.
