Villagers of Kallikudi taluk protest demanding closure of illegal quarries

A large number of villagers from areas around Kallikudi taluk, during the grievance meeting here on Monday, demanding cancellation of permits for operation of quarries staged a protest blocking the District Collector K.J. Praveen Kumar’s vehicle on Collectorate premises.

Villagers from Kallanai, Achangulam, Thumbakulam Pudur, Nedungulam, and Ulagani panchayats in the Kallikudi Taluk of Madurai district have been protesting for over 100 days against local stone quarries.

They alleged that the quarries were illegally encroaching on government wasteland, river tanks, waterbodies, Panchami lands, and lands assigned to landless farmers. They further claimed that unauthorised stone quarrying has caused a revenue loss of several crores to the government.

Alleging that lands belonging to Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes were forcibly seized to set up these quarries, they staged a protest blocking the Collector’s vehicle. They also sought the retrieval of encroached temple lands and waterbodies.

Although police officials attempted to negotiate, the villagers refused to disperse and continued their agitation for a long duration.

As the protest persisted, the police began detaining them in vans. However, tensions eased when the District Collector called the representatives for a formal dialogue, leading to the release of those detained.

Following the meeting, the District Collector stated that he had ordered officials to inspect the quarries in the villages and submit a comprehensive report, despite protesting for many days and submitting multiple petitions, no action has been taken so far.

Agricultural lands were completely devastated because officials are allegedly delaying the process under the pretext of preparing reports, they alleged.