Villagers stage road blockade against re-opening of stone quarry in Kaliyur

Residents protest against re-opening of stone quarry in Kaliyur village, affecting livelihood and environment, leading to road blockade.

Residents of Kaliyur village and adjoining hamlets such as Kalarur, Kodumampalli and Pachur staged a road blockade on the Natrampalli-Tirupattur Main Road on Wednesday against the re-opening of a private stone quarry in the village. 

Traffic was affected for more than two hours as residents blocked the road from 10.30 a.m. against attempts to re-open the quarry. “Once reopened, the stone quarry will end our livelihood that mainly depends on agriculture,” said S. Poovarasi, a resident.

At present, Kodumampalli, a village on Tamil Nadu-Andhra Pradesh border, has more than 1,500 families, who are mainly dependent on farming, cattle rearing and poultry farming. The village also has at least six ponds and water channels that remains a major source of water for irrigation and domestic consumption.

Farmers said that the stone quarry started its operation in 2022 after getting nod from the district administration. Since then, regular blasts at the quarry has affected senior citizens and children due to the noise. Huge rock chunks from the quarry fall on the farmlands during blasts.

Excavation of stones was done round-the-clock. Transporting excavated stones has also damaged the village roads, putting the lives of commuters at risk and disrupting ambulance services to the area.

After a series of petitions and protests, the residents said that they were able to shutdown the operations of the quarry a year ago. Now, construction materials and ingredients have been spotted at the closed facility. Approach roads to the quarry were also being re-laid. They said that all these efforts have reaffirmed that steps were being taken to re-open the quarry.

Natrampalli police led by S. Vijayakumar, Deputy SP (Vaniyambadi sub-division), and revenue officials including K. Ramakrishnan, tahsildar (Natrampalli) reached the spot and pacified agitated residents. The residents dispersed only after assurances from authorities that the quarry will not be re-opened.