KALPETTA/Kerala | Aug 06, 2015:
A granite quarry functioning on a revenue land at Ambalavayal in Wayanad district.– Photo: By Special Arrangement
An all-party action committee will launch an indefinite agitation against the rising prices of granite products and the increase in mechanised granite quarrying activities at Ambalavayal in Wayanad district.
As many as 19 quarries were functioning on revenue land at Ambalavayal and most of the quarries were functioning flouting the norms set by the Mining and Geology Department, K.R. Ramakrishnan, a leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)], said.
Now, the quarry owners were competing to exploit maximum resources within the given period by using heavy machinery such as excavator, rock-breaker, and compressors, he said. Such a move would adversely affect the ecologically fragile area, he said. Hundreds of labourers lost their job after the mechanisation processes started this year, he said.
The quarrying permit holders were charging exorbitant prices for the granite products when compared to neighbouring districts on the ground that the government was planning to hike the seigniorage for granite products from Rs.12.50 a tonne to Rs.200 a tonne. The maximum cost of production for a load (130 to 140 ft) of granite boulder is Rs.800. But the permit holders were selling the produce at Rs.2,100 a load, Mr. Ramakrishnan said.
Moreover, the permit holders were not catering to the demand of the public as a part of evading various taxes such as VAT, income tax, central sales tax, and excise duty. They sell the produce mainly to manual sand-making units in the area, K. Vijayan, former president, Ambalavayal grama panchayat, said.
As many as 10 well-equipped manual sand-making units were functioning in the area and each unit produced more than 10 loads of manual sand a day. Nearly 90 per cent of the sand was being transported to various parts of the State and Nilgiri area of Tamil Nadu, he said.
The indiscriminate quarrying had adversely affected the natural water sources such as springs and streams in the area, Mr. Vijayan said.
Moreover, the functioning of quarries was posing a severe threat to the normal life and historical monuments such as Edakkal cave and Phantom rock.
(Source: http://www.thehindu.com/)