New lease grants for mining in Coimbatore district should be halted, demand farmers

COIMBATORE

Farmers Association (apolitical) and the Anti-Corruption Movement, a non-governmental organisation, have urged the Director of Mines and Geology and the Coimbatore district Collector to halt all new lease grants for mining in Coimbatore district and initiate an independent probe into all current mining leases and transport permits in the district to assess environmental and financial damage.

N.K. Velu of the Anti-Corruption Movement and P. Kandasamy, general secretary of the Farmers’ Association, have written to the Collector and the Director of Mines and Geology demanding action against officials concerned, constitution of a monitoring committee with a farmer association representative, collection of penalty from the licence holders for excessive mining, and payment of compensation to farmers and residents affected by the mines and quarries.

Mr. Velu said there are reports about proposals being processed to grant two significant mining leases in Kinathukadavu taluk – 25 acres of poramboke lands in Sokkanur village and 4.25 acres in No. 10 Muthur village. These should be withheld as there are evidences of “institutional collusion, collapse of the rule of law, and a pattern of ecological destruction facilitated by the Coimbatore district unit,” he alleged.

He pointed out individual cases at Kinathukadavu, Sokkanur, and Pollachi. In one case at Kinathukadavu safety norms regarding electric lines were ignored and mandatory fencing and green belts were not provided. At Sokkanur 54,069 Cu.M. of stone was extracted without a permit, incurring a ₹4.48 crore penalty but it was reduced to ₹1 crore. Further, debris dumping destroyed a nearby water canal. Lease was granted at Sangarayapuram despite being within 300 m of houses, temples, and wells and it was operated 23 hours a day, exceeding depth and volume limits and at Govindanaickanur, an unauthorised post operates on the Cochin Frontier Highway, where private individuals extort “taxes” of ₹500 per unit from Kerala-bound mineral laden vehicles.

The scale of illegal mining “suggests a sophisticated system of monthly kickbacks”. There is evasion of seigniorage, transport regulations have become the norm and there is no vigil, he alleged.

The Palghat valley, once renowned for its unique fertility, is undergoing rapid desertification. The local community is suffering from rapid depletion and chemical contamination of groundwater, destruction of indigenous flora and fauna, and conversion of fertile agricultural lands into barren wasteland, he claimed.