Plea filed seeking to quash tender for lease of land in Krishnagiri

Chennai: A public interest litigation has been filed in Madras high court to quash a tender notification issued by the Krishnagiri district collector, calling for applications for grant of lease of government lands at Kammandoddi village in Krishnagiri for quarrying blue metal.

A division bench comprising Justices S. Manikumar and V. Bhavani Subbaroyan, before whom the PIL from Jayashankar Abbaiah, came up for hearing, adjourned it to February 16.

Directing the Krishnagiri district collector and district forest officer, Hosur, to file a detailed counter by February 16, the bench said till such time, process for obtaining necessary certificates may go on. Lease deed should not be issued, the bench added.

According to petitioner, this notification relates to lands in Kammandoddi village, near Sanamavu reserve forest and is part of the elephant corridor. Numerous large-scale mining operations have been permitted to come in the district and this has resulted in fragmentation of the landscape, resulting in destruction of critical elephant habitat and resulting in man-elephant conflict, he added.

As early as on June 22, 2015, the district collector has addressed a communication to the district environmental engineer, Pollution Control Board, recording the objections of the district forest officer (DFO), Hosur, on the impact of stone quarries along the elephant migratory route and in the vicinity of the reserve forests which serve as habitat for these elephants during the migration.

DFO also said the reason for elephants staying into human habitation and for increased incidents of attacks in the region was the mushrooming of stone quarries and use of explosives. 

DFO has called for a possible ban on quarry activities in the region. The current notification includes lease of lands in Kammandoddi village and that may lead to further fragmentation of elephant corridors, he added.