The Western Ghats Protection Council (WGPC) has a detailed probe into a fire that destroyed 10 acres of vegetation in the ecologically fragile revenue land atop the Kannimala hills at Kadambanad grama panchayat in Adoor taluk on Thursday.
In a statement, WGPC district president Avinash Palleenazhikathu alleged that the fire was part of a hidden agenda of the granite quarry lobby in Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram districts who had been trying to resume quarrying at Kannimala. Mr. Palleenazhikathu alleged that certain private parties had taken possession of a large extent of revenue land at Kannimala with the help of forged documents.
The quarry lobby had been trying to set up granite quarries and crusher units in this land, posing threat to the environment.
‘Annual feature’
Fire destroying vegetation at Kannimala has been a annual feature during summer and the authorities had turned a blind eye to such instances, he alleged.
Democratic Youth Federation of India district secretariat member Sreeni S. Mannady too demanded a probe into the fire outbreak at Kannimala.
