In the first phase, 20 illegal brick kiln chambers out of the 197 were sealed in the Thadagam Valley, on Friday.
In the first phase, 20 illegal brick kiln chambers out of the 197 were sealed in the Thadagam Valley, on Friday.
Coimbatore: Days after the Madras High Court on February 10, 2021 directed the Coimbatore local administration officials to immediately act upon illegal brick kilns in the Thadagam valley, the officials have just begun the process from Friday.
Officials from Revenue, TANGEDCO, HACA, Geology and Mining, Forest and TNPCB visited the brick kilns in five panchayats in Thadagam valley to seal it.
Officials involved in this process say as many as 20 chambers located in these five panchayats, Chinna Thadagam, Nanjundapuram, Veerapandi, Somayampalayam, Mangarai have been sealed in the first phase. There are as many as 197 illegal brick kilns, mushroomed in this valley.
When questioned about sealing the rest of the remaining brick kilns, one of the officials involved in the process, upon anonymity, said that the brick kilns owners have been informed about it and were asked to close their chambers, immediately. However, the official denied to comment on the action plan and date to close the remaining illegal brick kilns.
Meanwhile, activists who are relentlessly protesting against closure of these kilns heave a sigh of relief as the officials have finally begun to act upon the orders.
Activists TMS Rajendran and Ganesh opine that the officials should not slow down the sealing instead expedite the process and put an end to this illegal sand mining. They expressed hope that soon the daylight plundering of red soil in the thadagam valley will come to a realistic end.