‘People’s safety first’: This panchayat in Kerala forgets political divide to say no to quarrying

Kottayam: In what could be seen as a bold step by a local self-government body amid rising concerns over environmental catastrophes, a panchayat in Kerala has said no to quarrying there. Kadanad grama panchayat near Pala in Kottayam district registered its opposition to a private party’s move to open a quarry near Perumkunnu in the village on Tuesday.
Perinkunnu is part of Mattathippara, a hill area in the Western Ghats.

The panchayat committee unanimously decided to instruct the panchayat secretary not to submit a no-objection report favouring the opening of the proposed quarry. The additional judicial magistrate has asked the panchayat secretary to file a report on the private party’s application to install an explosives magazine at the proposed site for quarrying. The panchayat is ruled by the Left Democratic Front (LDF).

It is learned that the panchayat secretary had inspected the site and prepared a report calling for an expert opinion before granting permission to the applicant’s request. The panchayat committee’s objection is likely to be included in the final report to be submitted to the ADM.

The panchayat’s strong stance assumes significance amid concerns shared by environmentalists over human interventions including unregulated quarrying aggravating landslide possibilities and losses.

“We have taken the decision considering various aspects including the fact that the area had witnessed minor landslides a few years ago. There is a stream near the proposed quarrying spot and a water treatment plant for a drinking water project is also nearby. We know our decision may be challenged in the court, but at the moment our only concern is the people’s safety,” Jiji Thampi, the panchayat president told Onmanorama.

NoCs from the village office, police, fire and rescue services and the panchayat are necessary for issuing explosives licences to a quarry owner.

A disaster management expert who was part of the state’s environmental clearance procedures told Onmanorama that he viewed the panchayat’s decision as a significant step at a time when local interventions for disaster mitigation are the need of the hour.

Kadanad panchayat has a history of resisting quarrying attempts in the past too. It was the first panchayat to have set up a Biodiversity Management Committee in 2008. Headed by the then panchayat president Maju Puthenkandam, the committee had prepared the People’s Biodiversity Register. The document noted that the quarrying of rocks in the biodiversity-rich Perumkunnu Hills was detrimental to it and should be halted. Though an attempt was made to assign a scientific team to study the potential impact of quarrying at Mattathippara Hills, the plan had to be aborted following protests from the public which was misguided that the area was going to be declared as ecologically sensitive.

Maju told Onmanorama that the latest developments which reflect people’s objection to quarrying reveal that there has been a change in their attitude following the natural calamities in the past few years.