Kerala - Kochi   

Stop memo for mechanised quarries

KOCHI: The government has asked all mechanised stone quarries in the Kizhakkambalam panchayat in Ernakulam district, where a quarry accident on Friday killed a worker and injured three others, to shut down indefinitely.

Muvattupuzha Revenue Divisional Officer P.K. Nalan told The Hindu that he had served ‘stop memos’ on seven mechanised quarries (which have stone crushers attached to the quarries) and asked them to shut down at once.

This followed an instruction by Forest Minister Benoy Viswom, who visited the accident site.

Mr. Nalan said he would be handing in a report on the Oorakkad accident in three days to the Collector.

Meanwhile, the accident has triggered the local people’s anger against the quarries and crushers in the area which, according to them, cause noise, air and water pollution as well as health problems.

In the panchayat alone, there are seven large mechanised quarries, eight non-mechanised ones and a few small ones apart from a number of crushers. They said the quarries did not serve any purpose for the local people as most of the workers employed there were either from outside Kerala or from other panchayats.

A people’s agitation against the quarries has been picking up momentum over the past one year and Friday’s accident at G.K. Granite at Oorakkad has given a boost to it.

Kizhakkambalam panchayat president Anukumar (CPI-M) said that most of the quarries were operating in a highly hazardous way and they did not employ even minimum safety precautions. Most of them violated rules and norms for mining and quarrying.

He accused the management of G.K. Granite of acting in a ‘highly irresponsible’ manner. Soon after the accident, the owner and staff vanished from the quarry and there was nobody to coordinate rescue operations. The revenue, police and fire and rescue service officials, though present in large number, were also ineffective.

It was the local people who took the initiative on their own. But the same people were later in the evening rounded up by the police for protesting against official apathy, he said.

Mr. Anukumar warned that the condition of many other quarries in the panchayat was so bad that a major tragedy might strike any time if the authorities did not force the quarry owners to take strict safety precautions.

Meanwhile, the Trade Union Centre of India (TUCI) urged the police to arrest the owners of G.K. Granite for culpable homicide. Charles George, State secretary, pointed out that the local residents had been on an agitation for a year to press for action against the company’s illegal quarrying.

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