“I, like my ancestors, know only farming. You say, you don’t need NOC from me as a farmer of the adjoining land, because you can lease your Porambok for mine. You bring in an outsider and lease him out for 10 years. How can you expect me to do farming when stones break and fall on my land?” A farmer from Koratagiri asked Collector Dr. V. Jayachandra Bhanu Reddy.
The farmer was speaking at a meeting of the “Peace Committee” convened at the Collectorate to end the protest by the residents of Koratagiri against the stone quarries, crushers and tippers operating in the village.
In a meeting coordinated by the district administration, the convention and “guidelines” came to a head and residents of Koratagiri village raised sharp questions and sought answers.
The villagers vacated their homes four days ago and went into a dense forest, pledging that they would not live among the flying rocks, flying dust, explosions and smoke that are harming their ecology and livelihood .
Koratagiri, with eight mines, captive crushers and tippers, has seen protests for over a year after residents refused to let tippers out of crushers with gravel and stones.
Nevertheless, two new mine leases were issued by the administration this May.
A villager wanted to know how new pattas were issued when there was public objection. The Collector said that the public hearing was held after a public notice in Tamil.
However, the villagers denied this. When the video of the hearing was sought, a resident was asked to file an RTI to obtain it. The peace committee meeting was a real public hearing, where participants voiced their true realities under a cloud of pollution from the mines and demanded their closure. According to Collector Reddy, “it was a democracy and not a monarchy”, where he could “unilaterally” close the mines. “They will go to court on appeal,” he said.
While the villagers demanded a written commitment from the collector that trucks would not ply on their route and the mines would be closed, the collector said only fines are imposed for violating mines and that mines are closed only for “major violations”. is done. During this survey all eight mines will be surveyed. For now, residents of Korattagiri have announced that they will go back to the denser areas, where they have set up tents with women and children.
MPs joined the protesters
Krishnagiri MP Dr. A. Chellakumar joined the protesters on Monday night. Speaking to the media on Tuesday, he said: “The protest needs support and the administration cannot take their side for the profits of the mine owners at the cost of people’s health and lives.”