Rapacious assault on Krishna river basin

Illegal stone quarrying near Almatti can have disastrous consequences, fear greens.

Stone quarrying goes on unhindered on the banks of River Krishna, even as locals allege that officials of Krishna Bhagya Jala Nigam Limited (KBJNL) are turning a blind eye to the illegality.

The national river policy stipulates that stone quarrying should not be conducted on the banks of any river.

It is feared that the quarrying may cause damage to the nearby bridges on the Parvati Katta road (a road bridge and the railway bridge) and the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya. The dawn to dusk stone quarrying in and around the Krishna river basin has invited the wrath of environmentalists.

Active in summer

Illegal quarrying becomes active whenever the water level in the river basin falls. It is easy to extract stone from the river basin which is wet for six months and becomes dry during summer.

Earlier, there used to be manual quarrying on a small scale by locals for their livelihood and the stones used to be transported in tractors. But, lately, cranes and other equipment have replaced the workers, creating huge craters in the river basin.

Greens fear that this could have a disastrous effect on the ecology of the river basin. It is alleged that the quarrying is going on at the behest of a contractor who is undertaking the construction of a new bridge (Agasarahalla) in the vicinity, so that the stones can be used to build the bridge.

Damage to bridges

The quarrying work is happening just 100 metres away from the bridges on the Parvati Katta road and the Navodaya Vidyalaya. People fear that the quarrying may cause damage to the bridges and the school building.

Another problem is that the rampant quarrying has led to brackishness in the water at Almatti R S village. It is said that the quarrying in the river basin has the tacit support of the officials of KBJNL.

Once in a while, they take action against the small-time  quarry workers, while letting the big fish go scot-free. Even the local police refuse to register a case.

The officials of the Mines and Geology department should register cases related to stone quarrying, says S Y Maradi, the sub-inspector.

KBJNL officials too pass the buck to the Mines and Geology department, saying information has been passed on to the latter and they have not initiated action.

 Though it is said that the quarried stone is being used for the construction of the Agasarahalla bridge, under the jurisdiction of KBJNL, the Jala Nigam officials are looking the other way.

No quality test

It is also not known whether the stone being used for bridge construction has been subjected to quality test.

When asked whether they have taken permission for stone quarrying, KBJNL officials on the spot, were evasive and said it would be better if the question was put to their higher officials.

Environmentalists say they have no objection if stone quarrying is carried out by KBJNL behind the M H M College premises, since it is far away from the river basin.

The greens and the people have now demanded that action be taken at the earliest by KBJNL officials to stop stone quarrying in the river basin.