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Fury as Stone Quarries Put Lives at Risk

By J Shanmugha Sundaram

Published: 13th March 2015 06:01 AM

Last Updated: 13th March 2015

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  A farmer pointing at stones that fell on his land after blasts at the quarry, in Perumugai on Thursday | S Dinesh

VELLORE: Despite innumerable petitions and pleadings to the district administration and other department officials, the residents of Perumugai Panchayat continue to live in danger arising from flying boulders landing on farms and houses, dust-filled polluted air, drying up of water-bodies as a direct result of blasts conducted in stone quarries.

Nine stone quarries, in and around Perumugai Panchayat,  of which four are operational together with a stone-crushing unit in the village are continuing to endanger the health and lives of villagers there.

Perumugai Panchayat, is about two kilometres from the quarries. Villagers there have been united in their demands to close the quarries down, but quarrying activities continue to flourish with scant regard for the welfare of the villagers.

“The money-muscle power of contractors and politicians, running the quarries for years is endangering our personal safety and livelihood. At least 15 persons have been killed in the last (seven to eight) years in quarry-related accidents in the village,” said a resident of Perumugai Panchayat.

Farmers owning land adjacent to the quarries are the worst affected. “I can only cultivate one fourth of my one-acre land. The remaining land has literally turned fallow,” said Perumal, a farmer, pointing to stones in that have fallen on his land from the quarries.

A youth in the village said, “Contractors are using heavy explosives to blast the hills. The seizure of a huge amount of explosive a year ago is evidence,” recounting the incident in which police arrested one Perumal of the village for illegal possession of  Ammonium Nitrate, electronic detonators and slurries in 2013.

According to Kumar, “Officials of Mines and Minerals, Pollution Control Board and Revenue departments are aware of the problems we face, but they prefer to remain silent as their needs are taken care of by the contractors of the quarries.” 

When officials in the Department of Geology and Mineral were contacted, they told Express, “The quarries have been functioning for more than 20 years. We have not floated any new tenders for quarries in the village despite the Revenue Department recommendation to do so, due to public protests.”  They confessed that none of the quarries and stone-crushing unit is following norms.

Because of the blasts, streams originating from the Perumugai Hills have dried up resulting in the Eri (lake) in the village drying up. Villagers added that in addition to water scarcity they have to contend with constant air pollution with grime from the stone crushing units hampering their health.with constant air pollution with grime from the stone crushing units hampering their health.