Laity opposes Church

Kozhikode: A section of believers here has asked the government to take legal action against the Thamarassery diocese which had not remitted the fees to the state while running quarries.

This paper had earlier reported about the quarries owned and operated by two vicars under the Thamarassery diocese here.

In a petition to district collector U.V. Jose, the Catholic Laymen's Association (CLA) unit here has demanded steps to assess the losses to the state as the two vicars had remitted only paltry amounts as mining fee by misrepresenting the actual quantity of granite extracted from the Church land. The organisation also alleged that the possible ban on quarries after implementation of Gadgil committee recommendations had forced the Thamarassery diocese to lead a campaign which ended up in violence and arson, injuring many police and forest officials.

CLA secretary M.L. George told DC that the diocese had influenced officials as well as political leaders to remit only a token fee to the government.

"The magnitude of financial loss could be assessed only if the district administration assesses the quantum of granite extraction," he said.

The Little Flower Church, Pushpagiri in Koodaranji village, and St George Church, Chundathumpoyil in Kumaranalloor village in Kozhikode district, both under the Thamarassery diocese, had operated quarries in 1.75 acres and two acres of land respectively. When the mining operations caused a threat to the church at Pushpagiri, the Church decided to hand over the entire property for quarrying and constructed a new church.

The mining permits for both the churches were issued in the name of 'Fr Vicar.' The Little Flower Church, Pushpagiri, has remitted Rs 1,31,870 as mining fee between 2002 and 2010, according to documents of the department of mining and geology, sourced by DC under the RTI Act.

The licence of the quarry at Pushpagiri was renewed 19 times. The St George Church, Chundathumpoyil, had remitted Rs 79,233  between 2001 and 2011. The licence was renewed ten times.  Both quarries were defunct since 2012.