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Several quarry owners took to the streets earlier this month to protest against the state government's new quarry policy which is set to increase the royalty and penalties collections while reinstating permission for mining revenue land. The indefinite strike was launched by a state-level coordination committee of quarry and crusher operators. It began in Mid-April with no clear end date in sight. Stakeholders fear grave repercussions such as a temporary acute shortage of construction material in the state.
The new policy includes an increase in royalty collections and license fees. It also incorporates a recommendation made by the National Green Tribunal’s expert committee which is to fix 150m as the permissible distance between a quarry and a residential area. The protestors allege that the state government is being ignorant of the difficulties faced by small business and that the introduction of such hikes in royalties and license fees will further hamper their already vulnerable positions.
Under the new quarry policy, the government has increased a security fee charge from one lac rupees to five lac rupees. The penalty for violating the act has also been increased from twenty-five thousand rupees to five lac rupees, a 2000% increase. The fine for overmining has also increased from seventy-two rupees per tonne to two hundred and forty rupees per tonne. These astronomical increases have not been justified by the state government in any way.
M.K Babu, general convener of the coordination committee was quoted in an article published by The Hindu saying that as per the new policy more than 99% of the existing and legal set up granite quarries will now be subject to scrutiny. Of the roughly 8,000 quarries present in the state, only 600 odd establishments fit the new criteria laid down in the policy. The coordination committee leader also pointed out that of the six districts in Kerela are now totally dependent on quarry products from other states.
As reported by ET Realty, around 636 quarries, 1,100 crushers and over 1,000 yards across the Kerala state have remained closed since the start of the protest. Construction material is likely to already have been exhausted, adding further pressure to the construction industry in the state. Supporters of the strike were said to be blocking trucks carrying construction material like granite and other construction material from other states at check posts at Valayar, Palakkad, Wayanad etc. Several government-funded infrastructure projects and low-cost housing projects have come to a complete standstill.
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