Residents of Valathur and Cheeramattam areas under the aegis of the Wayanad Prakruthi Samrakshana Samithi and Cheeramattam Quarry Virudha Samithi staged a march and dharna in front of the Wayanad collectorate here on Thursday raising a slew of demands including cancellation of permit for a granite quarry at Cheeramattam in Mupainad grama panchayat in the district.
The protesters said Muppainad grama panchayat had passed a resolution in 2021 against the move, but the lobby had obtained permission to set up a quarry from the local body by influencing officials, including the former secretary.
The area was identified as ‘red zone’ in the zonation map of the District Disaster Management Authority after several landslips were reported there in 2009 and 2019.
A team of officials including the Vythiri tahsildar, District Soil Conservation Officer, and District Geologist had submitted a detailed report to the Collector against the quarry after visiting the site. However, the district administration is yet to adopt any steps to cancel the licence, they said.
The proposed site is near Puthumala where 18 people were killed in a landslip last year and Neellimala and Kanthanpara where three persons each lost their life in landslips in 2009. Around 100 families, including tribespeople, live in the area, and they fear that the quarry unit might upset their life.
Many rivulets of the Chaliyar originate from the hill, and hundreds of villagers in the area are apprehensive that their drinking water source will be destroyed once mining begins. The protesters warned the authorities that if the district administration and the grama panchayat failed to cancel the licence for setting up the quarry, they would launch an indefinite agitation.
District panchayat president Samshad Marakkar inaugurated the protest.
