Telangana: Pharma City villagers up in arms against mining units

Hyderabad: Twelve villages near the proposed Pharma City on the city outskirts are up in arms against the state government for notifying mining zones for setting up stone crushing units.

Locals said that the government’s decision has dealt a double blow for them as they are already facing the risk of pollution and health hazards due to the Pharma City itself.

The villages fall in Kandukur, Kadthal and Yacharam mandals. They have decided to launch an agitation against stone crushing units. The government has proposed to acquire 12,000 acres for Pharma City. Out of this, nearly 6,000 acres had already been acquired for the Phase I of the project. The TSIIC is currently developing the land.

Anticipating huge demand, contractors lobbied with the government to notify mining zones in these villages so that they can set up stone crushing units to meet the huge demand for concrete from the Pharma City. The government recently notified the mining zones.

This triggered sharp protests from villages who said that they had already lost agriculture lands and if stone crushing units were set up they would lose their homes.

Villagers alleged that the stone crushing units would also cause ground water pollution and air pollution due to mining and crushing activities. The villagers are garnering support of political parties and civil organisations.