Chamarajanagara: Though District In-Charge Minister V. Somanna on Saturday March 5 ordered to stop all kinds of stone quarrying in the District for one month, the illegal quarrying is going on without any hassle. The Minister’s order came in the wake of the Madahalli quarry tragedy in Gundlupet Taluk last week in which three North Indian workers died after stone hillock collapsed on them. It was a tragedy caused due to unscientific rock blasting, locals alleged.
The Minister also instructed that permission for quarrying would be given only after inspection by Deputy Commissioner and Mines and Geology officials but villagers allege that quarrying is still going on despite the ban.
According to villagers in Masagapura in Chamarajanagara Taluk, the stone quarrying operating in the village is near the quarrying site by Mysore Minerals Limited, a State Government undertaking.
On Monday March 7, Raitha Sangha members headed by its District Unit President Honnur Prakash staged a ‘raasta roko’ at Bengaluru-Dindigul National Highway urging Government to ban illegal stone quarrying in the District. They alleged that miners looted rock deposits of the District with the support of Mining Department officials. They also alleged that mining is going on even without NOC from Forest Department.
