workers have welcomed Interim Order issued by the Madras High Court On Tuesday, 177 brick kilns have been banned in Thadgam valley of Coimbatore district.
Geology and Mining Commissioner J. A recent order by Jaikant allowed these 177 brick kilns, which were sealed in 2021 for various violations, to continue operating after paying prescribed fines, between Rs 3 lakh and Rs 40 lakh. Gave.
Activists had alleged that after paying the first installment of the fine, at least Rs 2 lakh, many of these brick kilns had started selling old stock and resuming other activities.
Indian Center for Animal Rights and Education (INCARE)’s S. Muraleedharan, on whose plea the court had issued the order, wanted the commissioner’s December 29 order to be set aside.
Tadgam Valley Security Committee’s S. Ganesh argued that the fine fixed by the commissioner was too low as it came nowhere near the fine recommended by the joint committee appointed by the southern bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) for violations and environmental damage.
While the fine fixed by the commissioner for 177 brick kilns was around Rs 13 crore, the NGT-tasked five-member committee, headed by the Coimbatore district collector, recommended a fine of Rs 433 crore in July 2022.
Mr Ganesh alleged that the amount of Rs 433 crore recommended by the NGT-appointed committee was too low considering the amount of soil illegally excavated from the five villages over several years.
Also, the committee had said that it conducted the survey only in accessible areas and its findings should be treated as minimum quantity of illegally excavated brick soil, he said.
Shri Ganesh said that apart from environmental degradation in the valley, the state government has also suffered huge losses due to illegal mining. He wanted disciplinary action to be initiated against the commissioner, alleging that his order was issued when the High Court and the NGT were hearing cases related to mining and issues related to elephant corridors.
Meanwhile, the Coimbatore district police installed surveillance cameras at various places in the valley to keep a tab on the movement of vehicles, including trucks, which were reportedly being used to transport bricks at night.