The inability of the Palakkad district administration to enforce an order of the southern Bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) stopping operations of all mining and quarrying units in 14 ecologically sensitive villages in the district has evoked concern.

Though the NGT’s judicial member P. Jothimani and technical member R. Nagendran issued a directive to the District Collector on August 7 to issue stop memos to all mining and quarrying units in these villages, no action had been taken so far.

In its reply to a query under the Right to Information (RTI) Act by social activist K.G. Kannadas, the Revenue Department confirmed that no step had been taken to implement the order though the district administration received three petitions requesting to execute the order.

Though the NGT issued a similar order to the Mining and Geology Department, the department had failed to act on it.

The quarries are exploiting resources of the villages, including granite, laterite, river sand and red soil. Most of the identified quarries are located in the Muthalamada region on the foothills of the Nelliampathy ranges...............Read more

Source web page: The Hindu