PONDA: In a distressing turn of events, the laterite quarries in Dharbandora’s Kirlapal panchayat have once again caught public attention following the discovery of a local resident’s body in one of the abandoned quarries last Friday. This grim incident is a painful reminder that a young woman had taken her life in the same quarry nearly a decade ago. The local community is growing increasingly frustrated with the government’s lack of action, especially in the wake of two suicides occurring at this same location.
The young individual whose body was discovered last Friday had been missing for three days before Curchorem Police conducted the necessary investigations on Friday evening. What adds to the troubling situation is that the quarries located in Survey Numbers 33/1 and 46/1 are on government-owned land. Despite this fact, the authorities have seemingly turned a blind eye to the illegal laterite mining operations taking place here.
Information obtained through the Right to Information (RTI) Act has unveiled a disturbing pattern of neglect by the officials of the Mining Department. Shockingly, these officials completely disregarded a complaint filed by Kirlapal locals on October 27, 2017. While the Mining Department did conduct a raid on the quarries and seized the machinery found on-site, a letter from an individual named Mayappa claimed that he had purchased the machinery as scrap material from a woman in Kirlapal. Astonishingly, the officials returned the machinery without conducting a proper inquiry, merely imposing a fine of Rs 20,000. What’s more, the department failed to initiate any action regarding penalties.
Furthermore, after surveying the land in survey numbers 33/1 and 46/1, the officials reported that crores of rupees were lost on the government property due to illegal laterite mining. The then mamlatdar, Abir Hede, lodged a complaint against unidentified persons on March 20, 2019, at the Curchorem Police Station. Regrettably, to this day, the officials have not been successful in recovering fines from the laterite mine owners.
Recent reports indicate that laterite mining operations have resumed in the Kirlapal panchayat area in the past few days. It has come to light that several individuals are actively engaging with officials to potentially open additional quarries, further exacerbating the concerns of the local community.
