The Hindu Business Line : Soil quarrying blights the land and wetland: Experts

THE indiscriminate quarrying of soil/earth in large quantity as filling material for building purpose and reclaiming the wetland, lakes etc. in the name of developmental activities is having negative impacton both the hillocks and the wetland system.

In the absence of a "regulatory mechanism and the requirement of any quarrying-permit, such clandestine activities are taking place on a very large scale throughout the State", according to Dr K.K. Ramachandran and Dr D. Padmalal of Centre for Earth Science Studies (CESS), Thiruvananthapuram. In fact, Environmental Impact Assessment is not done in the case of soil quarrying in the State.

"The present regulatory system of controlling quarrying of soil or earth is ineffective and evasive," Dr Padmalal told Business Line. Under the new Panchayat Raj Institutions of decentralised planning, these regulatory powers, protected under law, should be given to district or sub-district panchayats, as the case may be, he said.

At present, there is no `Regional Planner', who assesses the impacts of any activity on the adjacent developments or land uses as laid down in the guidelines by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Wild Life.

Unfortunately, under the present set up, neither the District Planning Officer nor his office has the necessary mandate. In fact, the provision in the Constitution's 74th Amendment Act (1982) under 243 ZD, dealing with the district planning committee, lays down among other things that the State may, by law, make provision with respect to matters of common interest between panchayats and municipalities including spatial planning, sharing of water and other physical and natural resources, the integrated development of infrastructure and environmental conservation, he said.

According to the scientists, in most cases of quarrying, whether it is for building or filling materials or even for clays, it is the landscape and land stability that are seriously affected. Invariably, the hillocks are completely removed, making the landscape flat.

Often it goes beyond this stage and creates a negative landscape - a basin or a deep scar. When mechanical mining, for example, by drilling and blasting is opted for quarrying, least consideration is given to the impacts on various types of structures around the area. "These quarrying activities are actually in violation of Environmental (Protection) Act (EPA) No 29 of 1986 and Environmental Protection Rules (EPR) of 1986", they said.

Despite the existence of such provisions, a considerable amount of quarrying for laterite, earth etc. is taking place in the State for such developmental activities as filling of low-lying areas, including paddy fields for settlements, extension for land areas for incremental developmental facilities etc.

According to Dr Padmalal, any type of conversion of wetlands is prohibited under the Kerala Land Utilisation Act, 1967, unless permitted by the competent authority. "But it is hardly observed and the Government, the guardian of the Act itself often flouts the law," he alleged.

In fact, reclamation of paddy fields for non-agricultural purposes had also negatively affected the ecological system besides shrinking the area for paddy cultivation.

The low-lying paddy fields in the State used to function as a reservoir during the monsoon seasons and the water accumulated in these low-lying areas used to help recharge the underground water table in the summer, Mr N.K. Sukumaran Nair, General Secretary, Pampa Parirakshana Samithi, said.

One of the main reasons for the shrinkage in area under paddy cultivation is reclamation of vast expanse of these fields. The area under paddy has fell sharply during the past three decades. Currently the cultivation is done in an area of 3.11-lakh hectares as against 12.98 lakh ha in 1970-71, he said

Whether quarrying is done for laterite brick or soil or clay or for river sand, it is the smaller landholder, located on the hillock or the riverbank, who is severely affected.

Other environmental problems such as depletion of ground and surface water resources have also been raised.

Above all loss of human lives has become a regular feature in many laterite quarries. Many have been incapacitated. In Thiruvallam Panchayat in Thiruvnanathapuram district alone, 15 people have been killed due to slumping of overhanging laterite blocks and delayed-action explosives needed for blasting.

There had also been at least two instances in the past when objections were raised against quarrying on cultural grounds. One was from Edakkal in Ambalavayal in Wayanad where the famous pre-historic cave with its mural carvings is located.

The other was again in the district in Sultan Battery from where quarrying of sand was done along a river stretch. These cases were referred to two different expert committees by the Government for their opinion and in both cases, the Committees gave dissenting opinion on quarrying, they said.

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