The Hindu : Kerala News : Need for strict implementation of norms stressed

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Saturday, Jan 05, 2008
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Kerala

Kerala

Need for strict implementation of norms stressed

The recent accident that claimed five lives at a granite quarry in Perumbavoor has once again highlighted lapses in quarry operations in the State. Do current regulations lack teeth to curb dangerous practices in quarries? What more needs to be done to prevent accidents? Our readers respond:

Death traps: Vertical quarrying, like shown in the picture, is a dangerous trend and should be avoided.

Rules are adequate

Explosions and minor accidents are common in quarries. Workers, who are mostly from other States, are often reluctant to complain about the pathetic condition of their working place. The fact comes out only after many lives are lost. Adequate precautions and necessary remedial measures should be strictly followed by the owners. The existing rules and regulations are adequate and apt, but it should be enforced without any bias. The Mining and Geology Department should play a crucial role in curbing such accidents. Licence should be issued only on fulfilling the conditions laid down in the rules.

K. Deviprasad

Kozhikode

Prioritise safety

The recent incident at a granite quarry in Perumbavoor has enlightened us on the need to take more precautions than ever to curb such undesired happenings in future. Ensuring safety should be first and foremost in quarries; for which the surroundings have to be studied in detail, including various strata and classification of the soil, cohesion, and other points of relevance. An expert team of geologists has to carry out a survey before according permission to quarry granite from the site. Workers engaged in quarries should be made to feel secure in all respects. All works in quarries should be immediately put under the direct superintendence of the Geological Department, even if the land belongs to private parties. The area of quarries should be adequate and the depth should be limited so as to prevent subsidence of surrounding rock formations and soil. The slopes of quarries should preferably be as steps not to exceed the angle of repose of the particular soil, with due consideration to water pressure owing to heavy rains etc.

K.K. Kunhi Kannan

Koyilandy

Save the hills

The accident at a granite quarry in Perumbavoor clearly indicates the lapses on the part of authorities concerned in checking indiscriminate quarrying. As the construction work in the district is at a peak there is scarcity of granite, which compels those in the business to resort to unfair practices. Quarrying should not be permitted beyond a certain depth. Authorities fail to look into what is going on in quarries. If the present law lacks teeth, it may be amended to make it effective. The authorities must take note of the fact that our hills and mountains are vanishing because of quarrying. Steps to curb accidents must be taken and disaster management systems put in place to deal with any situation.

V.P. Ramesan

Thripunithura

Safety on the worksite

Labourers suffer much in quarries and construction sites with meagre incomes and high amount of work. Quarry workers are not provided with minimum wages, good food, healthy atmosphere, safety on the worksite, etc.

The government should take necessary action against those who are violating the rules and see to it that the workers are given sufficient protection at work. This should be applicable not only to quarries but to all fields of work in the State, especially in the construction area.

Neelandon Kuruvattoor

Ottappalam

An indication of laxity

The Perumbavoor granite quarry disaster in which five human lives were lost has caused considerable anguish and naturally a question arises whether there was any laxity in the safety measures required to be followed. Disasters involving quarries and fire cracker manufacturing units are becoming common. While there are safety precautions to be followed, disasters of this nature indicate that these precautions are not being complied with to the desired extent. To avoid such incidences, at least in future, the authorities should come down heavily on the defaulters and if any unit is found to be lax in following precautions, it should be taken to task. If the death of an individual or individuals is caused by such a lapse, the person who was responsible for the safety should be prosecuted for man slaughter. What is immediately needed is to check such units to ensure that they comply with the required safety norms.

T.N. Ramachandran Nair

Thrissur

Cutting them off at the source

The more the rules and laws, the greater the urge and ease to flout them; the reality in this case is hardly different.

Of course, the government should strictly regulate and monitor quarries, yet something more helps, like targeting those that ultimately benefit from them.

The government can insist on greater transparency by builders and property developers about the sources of their building materials, for which they may be held solely responsible.

Also, it may commission a scientific survey of the reserves of material available to determine how they may be safely and optimally exploited. Success is further ensured if the privileged and financially well-endowed home-buyers and other customers can be made to change their attitude towards what they seek.

They may emulate what their peers in the developed world have done to the retailing sector. By demanding transparency in the working of this sector, and willingly paying the extra cost due to ethical sourcing of supplies, they fulfil their social responsibility in fair measure.

The message is: be as much discerning and sensitive in fulfilling personal needs and seeking comfort.

Devraj Sambasivan

Alappuzha

Fair warning

It is the construction boom which has resulted in the spurt in quarry activities with scant regard for safety norms, if at all they exist. A random check will reveal that operators act with callous haste to meet the increasing demand.

What is the panacea for this ill? All the haphazard rules and regulations must be codified and a comprehensive Bill enacted without further delay. Otherwise, there will be more Kuzhoors. You have been warned enough !!

K.B. Rajagopalan

Kochi

Corruption in the licence raj

The owners and workers of granite quarries are at the receiving end due to loopholes in the administrative system.

The fact that many of the granite quarries functioning in the State are devoid of licences is a shocking reality. This is in absolute abrogation of the provisions of the Explosive Substances Act. As such, the prospect of insurance cover for the lives of these workers has dimmed.

Quarry owners claim that the procedures for obtaining licences are time-consuming on account of delays caused by corrupt authorities and they do not wait for the issue of licence. The workers also lack awareness regarding such crucial matters and fall prey to administrative failures.

It is high time that the authorities performed their respective duties according to the existing laws. The quarry workers should be made aware of the insecurities involved in their work and their rights and privileges.

Krishna K.

Poonthura

Multi-pronged solution

The recent quarry accident in Kuzhoor which claimed five lives should open our eyes to the dangers such granite quarries pose to the labourers, residents and the environment. The labourers are not aware of the risks they are exposed to and the authorities turn a deaf ear when locals complain about the lack of safety measures or the pollution a quarry creates. As the quarry owners’ association alleges, the authorities want the quarries to operate without licences so that they can fleece the owners threatening action. When huge sums are collected from the quarries towards royalties, there is no justification for letting things go on as before, ignoring the alarm bells sounded by the accident.

The demand of the quarry owners for a single-window system for issuing licences for quarries is legitimate. Now it takes nearly three years to get a licence, that too after much greasing of the authorities’ palms. The licence to store and use explosives needs to be issued only after thorough scrutiny. The operation of the quarries in populated areas should be stopped. The workers at the quarries who use explosives to crack granite mounds should be properly trained. Local bodies should be more vigilant in giving nod to the operation of quarries. The Mining and Geology Department has to take into account the impact of reckless mining in any quarry.

The stark reality that thousands eke out a living by working in the quarries should prompt the authorities to avoid closure of the quarries.

N.K. Vijayan

Kizhakkambalam

Protect the worker

Not only in the quarries, but also nowhere in the State are workers’ rights protected. The workers are always abandoned by the higher classes and nobody looks after their issues and problems. The politicians who cry for them whenever an election approaches do not bother to see that the workers are safe in their workplaces. The only suggestion is to appoint a commission to see that the labourers are protected. There should not be any commission agents in between the ‘muthalali’ and the ‘thozhilali.’

S.N. Thiruvazhiode

Poonithura

Labourers’ woes

Due to lack of efficient and sufficient rules in the State, the low-class labourers are suffering a lot. Quarries are no exception to this. Workers not only from this State, but also from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and some eastern States suffers due to inaction of the authorities to protect their lives and ensure minimum wages for them. As they are not voters, politicians also are not interested in their matters. Neither the Minimum Wages Act nor any other laws concerning workers are applicable to these quarry workers. There are very little safety measures in these areas and nobody bothers to correct this. These quarries should be placed under the village officer concerned and a system should be started to check the facilities available for workers.

P. Sankaranarayanan

Thripunithura

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