THIRUVANANTHAPURAM | Dec 22, 2016: With the Supreme Court making environment clearance mandatory even for quarries less than five hectares, the number of functional quarries in the state is likely to be reduced from around 3,000 to a mere 70. This could adversely affect major infrastructure projects in the state such as Vizhinjam port and even construction of houses.

K M Philip, state president of Quarrying Permit Holders Association, said even the 70 quarries in the state won't be able to function smoothly once others are shut down. There will be huge demand which is beyond the capacity of the existing quarries, he said.Chances of local protest growing stronger once the scale of operation increases in authorised quarries is another headache foreseen by quarry owners.

Alex Perumalil, president of Southern Railway Contractors Association, said: "Imagine a situation when all the trucks to 3,000 odd quarries make a beeline for 70 quarries. The demand will be so huge that they will face public ire.The quarries cannot function without the support of local people," he said.

Philip said courts and environment organisations should focus on indiscriminatory construction rather than quarries. "Instead of creating a situation that demand shut down of quarries, steps must be taken to regulate construction activity in the state. The demand for construction material mined from quarries is huge in the state," he said. Varghese Kannampally , president of government contractors association said that infrastructure projects have not completely stopped yet as many quarries are still fucntioning. "The situation will change. Major road works will stop soon," he said.

Philip said that immediate impact of the quarry crisis will be on roads and it will soon affect major infra projects such as Vizhinjam Port. Philip said that the current rules have made it difficult for small-scale quarry owners. "There are around 14 parameters - such as 100 metre distance from place of worship, road, bridge, canal, river etc. With these, only a small area will be available for mining. Even with that, 7.5 metre has to be left as buffer zone.To mine in a five-acre area, I have to purchase 15 acres of land, which include houses in the area. This is not practical for a smallscale quarry owner," Philip said.

Quarry owners said that the industry has an annual turnover of Rs 5,000 crore and that it will be badly hit.

Kannampally said that ensuring accident-free quarrying and proper maintenance after quarrying are required for small quarries. "We need roads, bridges and other constuctions across the state. But quarries are not allowed. How is it possible?" he asked.

(Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/)