Action council convener Shaji Pathalil told
The Hindu
that the panchayat had decided to seek legal opinion on the request
submitted by a quarry owner to resume granite quarrying at Chembanmudy.
Mr. Shaji the panchayat’s move to consider the request to resume granite
quarrying at Chembanmudy, in violation of various laws and rules
pertaining to it as well as Western Ghats protection, was an
anti-environment and anti-people act.
Chembanmudimala,
stands 3,825 ft. above mean sea level. The unabated illegal operation
of two giant granite quarries and crusher units in this environmentally
fragile hilly tracts for about a decade was brought to a halt three
years ago following strong public protest against it.
The
hazardous silica dust flying from the quarry also posed a major health
hazard in the locality. There was a rise in incidence of cancer as well
as skin and and lung ailments in the Chembaoly-Vakamukku areas .
The
villagers had organised themselves and resorted to direct action to
protect themselves from the ill-effects of the illegal granite quarries
and crusher units following the alleged denial of justice to them by the
people’s representatives as well as the official machinery three years
ago.
Mr. Shaji said an expert team attached to the
Geological Survey of India had categorically stated in 2013 that no
granite quarrying should be permitted at Chembanmudy without attending
to the future threats and corrective measures.
During
his visit to the affected area in 2013, Western Ghats Ecology Expert
Panel chairman Madhav Gadgil too had strongly opposed quarrying at
Chembanmudy
