Bengaluru | Apr 24, 2015: The death of five engineering students in a water-filled quarry off Ballari Road shows how these abandoned sites have turned into death traps. The Ballari Road stretch from Yelahanka to beyond Devanahalli, a goldmine for those in the quarrying business, is dotted with many such idle quarries which are filled with water and pose a huge risk to lives. There is no fencing or warning boards to caution the public about venturing into the quarry area. "Youngsters from nearby colleges who come here to hang out have little idea of the depth of these quarries. Some are as deep as 300ft while the average depth is 100ft. Rain water and dirt covering them give little indication of the depth," said Sharath K, an environmentalist. Locals say drowning is not new. "It's just that many deaths go unreported. We see two or four deaths every month," said Hanumaiah M, a resident of Betta Halasuru. The quarries along Ballari Road have good quality stone and the mines and geology department, which gives permission for quarrying, has been granting licences for decades. But once excavation is over, neither the department nor other civic authorities care about the abandoned pits. The growing demand for stone has led to many illegal quarries cropping up. Over the past few years, their numbers have risen exponentially.
Following a complaint registered by the Upa Lokayukta, the Bengaluru urban and rural district administration undertook a study of illegal quarries along Ballari Road. Last year, they found illegal quarries spread over 110 acres, with most of them located in Chikkajala and Yelahanka areas. During a raid on illegal quarries in the Betta Halasuru area, where the drowning took place on Thursday, 30 of 33 quarry firms had not got their licenses renewed. There are many others working without licences. Apart from confiscating around 7 lakh tonnes of stone worth about Rs 60 crore, the district administration registered cases against 30 quarry owners. Officials found to their shock that many pits had been dug up just 500m away from the national highway — another gross violation of rules. Khayum Ali, former additional director of the mines and geology department, said while new rules mandate safe closure of quarries after excavation, it wasn't so earlier. "Therefore, many old quarries are lying dangerously open and some are facing litigation too. There is an urgent need to fence these points to save lives," he added.
'Raids will continue'
Asked about illegal quarries, R Venkatachalapathy, additional deputy commissioner, Bengaluru Urban district, said they do come across abandoned and illegal quarries but all they can do is conduct raids. "We do carry out occasional raids. But the department concerned is responsible for giving licences. We are seeing similar problems in Anekal area as well," he added. Officials with the Bengaluru Urban DC office say some quarries are operated close to residential areas and within city limits as well, which is another violation of the Regulation of Mines and Minerals Act. "Some carry out blasts and related activities at night too," said an official.
(Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/)
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