NAZIRA: With the help of a few corrupt officials of forest department, a few stone quarries are illegally running at Bihubor of Nazira sub–division.

SANGUEM: The mines department has directed a basalt stone quarry operator in Sanguem to pay Rs 1.22 crore towards royalty within one month, following the controversial extraction of basalt stones from a quarry in Uguem from 2008 to 2012.

Hit by this notice, efforts are now on to involve local politicians, in a desperate bid to get the government to reduce the royalty. Director of Mines and Geology, Prasanna Acharya, issued a demand notice, asking the quarry operator to make the payment towards royalty within one month from the date of the demand notice, failing which the amount would be recovered as arrears of land revenue.

Granite quarries which have not violated the norms should be allowed to carry on mining, said Madurai Granite Manufacturers’ and Processors’ Association here on Sunday.

The association members employed as many as 4000 workers in the granite polishing units situated along the Madurai-Sivaganga Road, near here. Apart from this, the industry provided employment opportunities to around 3000 persons in the locality.

Stone-crushing units continue to operate in defiance of court order

Several government orders, verdicts of the courts, including directions from the Supreme Court, seem to have had no impact on the quarries and stone-crushing units around the Bannerghatta National Park (BNP). They have not only indulged in the illegal blasting of rock and quarrying, but have also been threatening and abusing people who raise a voice against them.

Apex court guidelines on forest clearance violated

Bandipora: In a brazen violation to the Supreme Court (SC) guidelines, a private company in league with the Border Roads Organizations (BRO) project Beacon's officials and forest department has set up a stone crusher in the dense forests of Bandipora. The Company is run by the sons of the top politicians of ruling party. The stone crusher has come up adjacent to the forest land leased out to the BRO through a State Cabinet decision in 2009.

JAIPUR: The people's union for civil liberties (PUCL) has accused police and mine mafia of ganging up on those raising their voices against illegal mining at Dabla village in Sikar. The activists have demanded that all the false cases against the villagers including Kargil hero Jagram Singh should be withdrawn.

Addressing a press conference here on Friday, PUCL said that in the last 18 months since villagers started raising voice against illegal mining in the region, the police have registered more than 12 FIRs against locals including Jairam Singh (Kargil hero), Sunil, Surendra and Moharchand.

The residents allege that several people of the area received multiple splinter injuries during the frequent gelatin blasts carried out by these stone quarries to smash the hard rocks

GUWAHATI: The setting up of illegal stone quarries along the ‘disputed’ stretch of the Assam-Meghalaya border has resulted in large-scale cutting of hills and wanton deforestation in the inter-State border areas located in the Assam side.

GUWAHATI: Taking advantage of the long pending inter-State border dispute and the negligence of the Assam government, illegal stone quarries are flourishing along the Assam-Meghalaya border adjacent to Basistha temple, a famous tourism site in Guwahati city. The Baisistha temple is located around 7-km away from Dispur.

Over the last few years, many small to big stone quarries were set up in the Kalachanda area, a ‘disputed stretch’ of the Assam-Meghalaya border. Kalachanda is around 2-km away from the Basistha temple.

Revenue Department officials headed by Tiruchengode Revenue Division Officer (RDO) S. Kavitha surveyed four granite quarries in Paramathi Taluk on Wednesday. This included the two mines that were mined by the PRP group in Periyasolipalayam village near Kabilarmalai in Paramathi-Velur Taluk.

On August 31 the officials issued a notice to the two quarries run by the PRP group to stop mining till they obtained further directions from the District Collector. On Wednesday, the team started verifying if the granite stones were quarried within the boundary that was marked for mining.

A Committee set up by the state government to probe into illegal quarrying of granite, has concluded that no quarrying was going on in the forest area of Kanakapura Taluk. The team led by Principal Secretary to government, Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (DPAR) Mohamed Sanaulla in its report stated that “no quarrying is going on within 100 metres of the forest area.”

In its report, which was submitted to the Chief Minister on March 14 this year, the Sanaulla Committee said the team, after inspecting thoroughly the locations where it was alleged that illegal quarrying was on, found that no quarrying was going on in the forest area of Kanakapura taluk.