THIRUVANANTHAPURAM | Jul 09, 2015: The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) conducted a surprise raid on the Pallichal panchayat office on Wednesday in connection with the illegal mining at Mookunnimala.
The raid was based on a petition by Latha, joint convenor of the women’s forum in the Pallichal panchayat formed to fight the quarry mafia.
Latha, in her complaint, alleged that a company named Ms KK Rose secured mining licence from the panchayat using fraudulent means.
Vigilance officials said the petition was true as they found that the panchayat granted the licence in violation of the rules.
The foremost among the violation was ignoring the provisions of the Kerala Mineral Concession Rules and the special rules for assignment of government land for rubber plantations.
The plot in possession of the Ms KK Rose was a non-transactional land specifically allotted by the government for rubber plantation. Vigilance officials said the title deed of the land specifically said it cannot be used for any other purpose other than rubber farming.
They said the licence was issued by the assistant secretary of the panchayat in May when he had the additional charge of the secretary. The assistant secretary, identified as Harikrishnan, was due to retire from service within a few days’ time when he granted the licence.
The VACB team said the company also failed to submit the mandatory licence from the Mining and Geology Department. “The documents submitted along the applications were no objection certificates from Factories and Boilers Department, Fire and Rescue Services and the Revenue Department. The most important document, the Mining and Geology Department’s licence, was not submitted,” they said.
The Vigilance team said the assistant secretary had granted licence to 10 other firms in violation of the norms. However, the team’s probe was confined to the petition.
“We have submitted a report to the Vigilance director. Further action will be taken as per his direction,” the team officials said.
The raid led by VACB circle inspector A Rabiyath started at 10.30 am and ended around 3.30 pm.
(Source: http://www.newindianexpress.com/)