With public outrage taking a village by storm, the controversy over quarrying at the Kurinji-Kottamala areas in Ramapuram has taken a serious turn. While the protests against mining in the area had been simmering for some time, things got out of hands when 25 protesters, including a Catholic priest, were taken into custody on Tuesday and released the next day.
According to action council members, the District Collector had banned quarrying in the area citing the possibility of boulders falling on residential areas. However, the Muvattupuzha-based St. Basil Industries India Pvt Ltd. was given an unconditional quarrying licence by the Ramapuram grama panchayat secretary. The action council has demanded a Vigilance inquiry into it and against all Revenue officials involved in the issue.
Meanwhile, Ramapuram panchayat president Byju John (Kerala Congress-M) has put the entire blame on the panchayat secretary. According to him, the quarrying unit got a High Court order in its favour, against which the panchayat had approached the Supreme Court. The apex court directive too was not wholly in favour of the council, he said.
The issue could impact the political equation in the panchayat council which has six KC(M), five Congress, three LDF, and two BJP members, besides two Independents.
