Thiruvananthapuram: Red soil becomes rare

Thiruvananthapuram: While environmentalists lament that red earth is being illegally mined to level off wetland, it has become difficult to find red earth for genuine infrastructure projects, say contractors and real estate developers. Civic bodies that shy away from making master plans and loopholes in government orders worsen the situation, they say. A recent government order allows a person with domestic building permit to remove as much soil as required from the site where he constructs land.

On the other hand, the red soil prices have risen 20-30 times after the government made it mandatory to obtain clearance from the geology and revenue departments. Red earth is either excavated during piling works or scooped out during levelling of land by razing hillocks. In Thiruvananthapuram, it costs between '50,000 and '70,000 to level one cent of land with red earth. The prices have further gone up since the construction of Kazhakoottam- Karode highway began.

"To move out red earth from a construction site to another, we now need to get a geology department clearance and pay them royalty. Then we have to get a clearance from the village office where the soil is being taken. Apart from paying the charges, developers have to pay bribe to the officers. This has made red earth expensive. We do not get materials from Tamil Nadu either," says Mr N. Reghuchandran Nair, vice-president of CREDAI.

He points out that wetlands cannot be saved by regulation on red earth unless the city corporation comes out with a master plan and executes it. As per the norms by NHAI, only red earth free of clay particles can be used for highway landfill on Kazhakoottam- Karode bypass. While environmentalists have blocked excavation of red earth from hills at Akkulam, presently red earth is being sourced from places such as Venganoor for the highway project which was to be completed in 18 months.