Kerala: Quarry clearance on fast track

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Last year, the LDF government had halved the distance a quarry has to keep from roads, canals, rivers, and residential buildings to 50 metres.  Now, citing severe shortage of construction materials, the government has made it even more easy for quarry owners to get environment clearance.  Two decisions to speed up the grant of environment clearance are considered particularly ominous for the environment.  One, the government has allowed quarries less than one hectare to present a “simplified mining plan”, a dumbing-down not sanctioned even by the amended version of Kerala Minor Mineral Conce-ssion Rules. 

The Mining Plan imposes very stringent precautionary measures on quarry owners. For instance, it insists that top soil should be removed separately. It also states that the waste rock and non-saleable minerals generated during quarrying operations has to be stored separately by the lease holder in properly formed dumps. And these dumps are to be properly secured to prevent the escape of material in harmful quantities that could degrade the surrounding land or pollute water sources. Now, with the “simplified mining plan” in place, lease holders need not bother.

The other dilution is even more dangerous. The KMMC Rules had stipulated that the district collector’s no-objection certificate was mandatory to mine ordinary clay. This has now been removed.  “In short, no questions will be asked if mining takes place in paddy lands,” said activist lawyer Harish Vasudevan. “Ordinary clay in the state is mined mostly from paddy lands,” he said. Industries minister A.C. Moideen said that stringent rules protecting nature had caused quarries to shut down.  “Many functioning quarries had to close down after the Supreme Court made licences like environment clearance mandatory,” he said.

And, as if suggesting it was a tragedy, the minister said: “As a consequence, quarries functioning in ecologically fragile land too closed down.” The minister’s concern for quarry owners is not extended to the public. “The government wants all help extended to quarry owners, but has not done anything to rein in the open market prices of sand,” Mr Vasudevan said.  The royalty a lease holder pays for a 5 metric tonne load is '250. But to purchase the same load, a consumer will have to shell out '5,000.