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A farmer has filed a public interest litigation (PIL) before the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court seeking protection of life, the environment, water resources, and agricultural lands in villages surrounding Kallanai in Kalligudi taluk of Madurai district.
A Division Bench comprising Justices G Jayachandran and KK Ramakrishnan ordered notice to the authorities on the petition filed by R Subramaniyan, a resident of Kallanai. The petitioner alleged that illegal quarrying activities in the area had caused severe damage to the surrounding villages According to him, several stone crushers and blue metal quarries were operating without valid leases, beyond the permitted depth, after the expiry of lease periods, and without obtaining mandatory environmental clearances. He contended that the operations were being carried out in gross and wilful violation of the Tamil Nadu Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 1959, the Mines Act, 1952, and other applicable statutory provisions. The petitioner further stated that these illegal activities had resulted in serious environmental degradation, depletion of groundwater resources, and destruction of fertile agricultural lands in the affected villages. Even in cases where limited permissions had been granted, quarrying was allegedly carried out beyond the approved lease area and depth He also alleged the reckless and indiscriminate use of high-intensity explosives in complete disregard of statutory safety norms. Such hazardous blasting, he said, posed a grave and imminent threat to the lives, property, and safety of villagers. The use of powerful explosives had caused large rock fragments to be hurled far beyond quarry boundaries, damaging nearby agricultural lands and endangering workers The petitioner claimed that the continued conduct of such dangerous quarrying activities had created a constant atmosphere of fear among residents and rendered the area unsafe for habitation and cultivation. (ANI)
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