Mystery sound attributed to blasts in illegal quarries

The Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC), in its report, stated that the mysterious loud sound that was heard in Mysuru, parts of Kodagu and also in Mandya district, on September 25, was due to the blasting carried out at illegal stone quarries at Bebi Betta forest region, said RTI activist K R Ravindra.

Speaking to media persons, after releasing the report issued by the KSNDMC, he said, "The sound that was heard across the districts was due to the use of banned explosives in quarries at Bebi Betta. Two explosions were carried out, twice in six seconds. The Earthquake Monitoring Centre at Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) has recorded it. The KSNDMC report has stated that stone quarrying is posing a threat to the KRS dam,” he said. “The historical KRS dam should be protected from illegal quarrying. A public interest litigation would be filed in the High Court soon," Ravindra said.

Reacting to this, District in-charge Minister C S Puttaraju said, "I have seen the report issued by KSNDMC. I have also directed the Deputy Commissioner to impose prohibitory orders around 20 km of KRS dam, subject to further extension."