The Manimalayar Protection Council (MPC) has accused the Kottangal grama panchayat, the district administration, the Mining and Geology Department, and the State Pollution Control Board of blatantly violating the orders of the High Court with regard to the quarrying and crushing of rocks on the environmentally sensitive Avolimala alias Karavallikkad hill bordering the reserve forests at Chunkappara in Mallappally taluk.
In a statement issued here on Saturday, V.N. Gopinatha Pillai, MPC general secretary,said the Divisional Forest Officer in Ranni had denied permission for granite quarrying and crusher unit on Avolimala as it was lying close to the Ponthanpuzha forests. The Principal Agriculture Officer in Pathanamthitta had stated that the functioning of a crusher unit on Avolimala would adversely affect the crops in the locality An inquiry commission appointed by the High Court had found that the forest boundary was only 217 m away from the disputed quarry and that the strategically important Great Trignometrical Station (GTS) was lying only 800 m away from the quarry. Mr. Pillai alleged that the quarry owners had managed to obtain licence for the crusher unit by misleading the court, stating the distance between the crusher unit and the forests as 700 m. Meanwhile, the quarry owners had blasted the rocks situated near the forests, further reducing the distance between the quarry and the forests, he alleged.
Mr. Pillai said an affidavit submitted by the Chief Secretary on the directions of the court said that the existing distance between the quarry and the forests was only 80 m.
He said that all the above facts were ample proof for the blatant violations of court directives taking place at the granite quarry and crusher unit named Amity Rock Products Private Ltd. Disposing of a case against granite quarrying on Avolimala, the High Court had unambiguously stated that the renewal of licence for the granite quarry and crusher unit be given only on the basis of an Environmental Clearance granted by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests.
Licence renewed
The MPC leader alleged that the panchayat had renewed the licence for the quarry and crusher unit in dispute on April 1, 2013, without considering the recommendations of the State Evironmental Impact Assessment Authority.
Though the MPC had moved the High Court seeking contempt of court proceedings against the parties concerned for violation of the court order a year ago, the petition was still pending for disposal, Mr. Pillai alleged.
