The issues related to mineral sand-mining from the premises of the Ponmana Kattil Mekkathil temple have been solved at a meeting chaired by Minister E.P. Jayarajan, Kerala Minerals and Metals Ltd (KMML) managing director K. Raghavan has said.
In a statement here on Tuesday, Mr. Raghavan said: ‘‘It has been decided to continue mining keeping a distance of 125 metres from the well in the temple yard and 100 metres from the banyan tree.
The area can be used for temple purposes without affecting the work of KMML after filling it and the Minister has agreed to consider this.
The Minister instructed the officials concerned to complete the construction of the breakwater facility and strengthen the seawall to protect the temple.
The KMML managing director has been asked to take measures to construct a new building for the Kottarakkadavu Primary Health Centre after completing mining in the area in a time-bound manner.
Subcommittee
At the meeting, it was also decided to form a subcommittee with Kollam Collector S. Karthikeyan as chairman and R. Ramachandran and N. Vijyan Pillai, MLAs, and KMML managing director as members. The subcommittee will study the labour issues of KMML mining workers in the Ponmana and Kovilthottam areas and submit a report.
