Thiruvananthapuram: Amid the spotlight on the role of mining in causing landslides, the Mining and Geology Department in Kerala has ordered to shut down all the quarries functioning without the permission of the wildlife board, within the 10-km radius of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries.

About 60 per cent of the mining activities in the state are being carried out within the 10km radius of protected areas. And none of them have the permission from the wildlife board. However, neither the forest department nor the geology department has any clear information on how many quarries are functioning within these limits. Approximately, more than 300 such quarries are functioning.

Even the High Court had pointed out that the permission from the National Board for Wildlife was mandatory for starting quarries near protected areas.

Principal chief conservator Surendra Kumar, who is also the chief wildlife warden, had given a written report to the director of the Mining and Geology Department, seeking to immediately shut down the quarries that do not have permission. Otherwise, this would amount to contempt of court, he pointed out.

However, the director then sought for a map that clearly showed the border limits of quarries.

After Malayala Manorama recently reported the government is in hand in glove with quarry owners, the director promptly issued the stop memo. He has also issued written directives to all district geologists. The letter also pointed out that even the forest department has instructed that quarrying activities should not be carried out within the 10km radius of the forest.

Moreover, information on the border limits of the quarries need to be collected from the forest officers. If no reply is given, then the geology department officials would have to assess the border limits and take further action.

Early last month a blanket ban was imposed on stone quarrying in Kerala after the state witnessed widespread floods and landslides, but it has been repealed. Illegal mining is a lucrative business in Kerala, where political masters and administrators and officials vie for a share of the pie. Norms are flouted and laws bent to allow unscrupulous miners to carry on with the ruthless exploitation of natural resources.