Minister for Youth Empowerment and Sports K.C. Narayana Gowda, who is also in charge of Mandya district, has called for a complete ban on stone quarrying in Baby Betta and other areas in the vicinity of the Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS).
Mr. Gowda, who presided over a meeting of district administration officials in Mandya on Monday in the wake of growing concern over the safety of the nine-decades-old structure from quarrying activities, said he would send a proposal to the State government for completely halting stone quarrying in Baby Betta area and would discuss the matter with Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa.
Other precedents
Acknowledging the concern expressed by people over the threat to the structure of the KRS from blasts carried out at the quarry sites, Mr. Gowda said there was a provision to ban quarrying in areas surrounding dams. He also said there are examples of such prohibition around dams in different parts of the country.
If necessary, he said, efforts would be made to identity suitable alternative sites for miners at Baby Betta, which he said should be promoted as a tourism site instead. Mr. Gowda came down heavily on officials for their failure to visit quarry units and collect information on the quantity of stone being quarried.
Though the residents come to know about blasts taking place in quarries in the vicinity of the KRS, the officials have no information about it, he lamented.
Lost royalty
He also directed the officials to henceforth visit the quarry sites compulsorily and ensure that royalty from the mining activity is paid to the government. Though Mandya has 95 quarries, the royalty collected from miners is less than the amount collected in other districts where the number of units is lower, he said.
Mr. Gowda said the district administration should set up a helpline so that members of the public can inform the authorities about quarry blasts taking place in their neighbourhood.
The Minister also said a task force comprising officials from the departments of Mines and Geology, Police, Transport, Revenue, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, and Forest should constituted to check illegal quarrying in Mandya.
