Villagers bear the brunt of uncontrolled blasting in quarries

A wall of a house at Parasapur village has developed crack due to uncontrolled blasting at quarries nearby. Many houses have damaged due to the vibrations caused by blasts. DH PHOTO

“Uncontrolled blasting at stone crushers has damaged our houses. Walls and ceilings of many houses in the villages under Magadi gram panchayat have developed cracks. The deafening sound of the explosives make children and elderly tremble with fear. It’s been months since we slept peacefully,” the aggrieved villagers of Parasapur and surrounding areas poured out their woes to DH.

The villagers complain that indiscriminate blasting from many unauthorised quarries in and around Parasapur, apart from damaging their houses, has badly affected the water table in the region. The water level in many borewells has either gone dry or dipped considerably.

The overloaded tippers and tractors have rendered the rural roads unmotorable in the region. Villagers had staged roadblocks in the past, demanding action against unauthorised quarrying and transportation of jelly and M-sand, but to no avail.

Magadi lake, the home for migratory birds from the Eurasian countries, is just 4 to 5 km from the quarries. If the blasting continues unabated, the birds may stop coming to the lake, fear birdwatchers.

Meanwhile, PDO Manjunath Kuduri, speaking to DH, admitted that nine crushers are functioning in the GP limits while the permission was issued to only five crushers. The remaining four have not obtained NoC from the local body, he said and promised that he would look into the matter and take appropriate action.

But Tahsildar Yellappa Gonnennavar has a different story to tell. “There are no unauthorised stone crushers in Shirahatti taluk. We have issued notice to the quarry owners asking them to produce the records of renewed licence for crushing. We will initiate action against those found operating quarries unauthorisedly.