Southern States - Kerala   

Protest against mineral sand mining

By Our Staff Reporter

ALAPPUZHA DEC. 5. The Kerala Swatantra Matsya Tozhilali Federation leader, Lal Koipparambil, has said that the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) by inviting tenders to give licence to mine mineral sand from the coastal area of the district when the public opinion is against it is a challenge to the thousands of poor fishermen residing in the area.

At a press conference here today, Mr. Lal said the notification was a ploy to provide licence to a particular group. He pointed out that the notification had clarified that the KSIDC had the right to reject or accept applications of private parties without assigning any reason.

Mr. Lal noted that in the context of the ecological problems created by the Titanium factory at Thiruvanamthapuram, the UDF should not have decided in favour of starting another factory which uses mineral sand as the raw material.

Mr. Lal observed that though no study had said that the coastal area extending from Thottappally to Alappuzha town in the district had any considerable mineral sand deposit, the government was trying to give permission to mining from there also. According to Mr. Lal this was aimed at giving permission to mine sea sand from the area in the guise of mineral sand.

Mr. Lal warned that the Swatantra Matsya Tozhilali Federation would be forced to start a sustained agitation if the government failed to retreat from its move to give license to mine sand and mineral sand.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Chandy's bid to placate Gouri
• Shobhana's expulsion: decision tomorrow
• Latin Catholics' rally on Dec. 8
• More autonomy sought for BSNL
• Sahitya Akademi quiz competition
• Protest against mineral sand mining
• Khadi exhibition begins today
• CPI(M) road blockade against new traffic system

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu