Construction materials such as granite needed for mega projects including the SilverLine semi high-speed rail will be sourced by ensuring adequate environmental safeguards, according to Industries Minister P. Rajeeve.
The matter came up during the Question Hour after the Industries Minister said 66 quarries (at three hectares a quarry) will be needed if granite for constructing the Vizhinjam international seaport project was to be fully sourced from within Kerala.
This prompted M. Vincent of the Congress to ask whether the Government had any idea of the volume of granite required for building the 529.45-km SilverLine corridor linking Kasaragod to Thiruvananthapuram.
Granite for Vizhinjam
To this, the Minister pointed out that only a small percentage of the granite needed for the ₹7,525 crore Vizhinjam project was being collected from Kerala. “Of the 70 lakh tonnes of granite required, only 8 lakh tonnes are being sourced from within the State,” he said. (Work on the 3.1-km breakwater, which constitutes a major component of the Vizhinjam port project, had been hit due to the shortage of granite, prompting the Kerala Government to approach Tamil Nadu seeking sufficient supplies.)
The State Government will not compromise on environment protection, Mr. Rajeeve said. The government rooted for a policy which strikes a balance between conservation of the environment and development, he added.
Sanction for quarries
“We need rock for building highways and other construction projects. But we need to maintain an equilibrium. We cannot move ahead with the pre-2018 flood outlook. The Mining and Geology Department sanctions quarries after ensuring adequate environmental safeguards,” he said.
