Coimbatore: A two judge bench of Madras High Court on Wednesdaydirected the state government to close all the brick kilns operating across Thadagam valley in Coimbatore, after the RTI filed by activists in Thadagam over the illegal red mining and creating mass destruction to the land, people and other living things.
Coimbatore: A two judge bench of Madras High Court on Wednesdaydirected the state government to close all the brick kilns operating across Thadagam valley in Coimbatore, after the RTI filed by activists in Thadagam over the illegal red mining and creating mass destruction to the land, people and other living things.
The Madras High Court had on 1-06-21 already passed a judgment ordering the district officials including Revenue department, District Collector, Pollution control board and Forest department to immediately close all the illegally functioning brick kilns, but that fell on deaf years, says Ganesh, an elephant activist from Thadagam.
With the officials failing to act and shut brick kilns which has been a huge problem for the people, animals and lands at Thadagam, creating numerous problems including pollution and illegally mining rich in mineral resources for over 15 crores in and around Chinnathadagam, Nanjundapuram and Veerpandi, activists say it is a huge threat for the environment and that the officials must take action soon.
Over 9,500 acres around these places with brick kilns owners digging 150 ft hole to mine sand have also been a major problem that has not been addressed, alleged Ganesh.
However, with the recent RTI filed by several activists in Thadagam, the Madras High Court, while hearing the case on Wednesday, with two judge bench headed by Banerjee and Senthil Kumar passed a judgement ordering district officials to immediately act and close the brick kilns.
A special team formed by environment officers from Ramanathapuram, Nagapattinam, Krishnagiri and Madurai have also visited the spot and suggested these kilns be closed, after examining. However, that too, fell on deaf years.
The Madras High Court have also dismissed 183 brick kilns owners petition and hence they can not go to Supreme Court regarding the case, Ganesh added.
We want the District Collector to act soon and close the brick kilns and wonder why the officer is silent on the issue, Ganesh lamented.
He claimed thatfrom 2005 to 2019 nearly 156 elephants were killed. On being asked, Ganesh told that these brick kilns are not registered since its under Hill Area Conservation Authority.