Quarries turn fodder to dust

A herd of about 100 sheep crosses the road connecting Lakdaram to Mumbai national highway in search of edible fodder. Being herded by Golla Vithal, a resident of the village, they have not been able to find a grazing area forcing the shepherd to take them back home.

Similar was the case with N. Pentaiah who could not find good fodder for his two bullocks and buffaloes. The shortage of good fodder has seen the milk yield of buffaloes fall, bringing down his monthly earnings by around ₹1,500. It is not just Pentaiah or Vithal, most villagers are unable to find clean fodder for their animals leaving them only half-fed. It is not that there is no fodder available, but the livestock are unable to eat it due to a layer of fine stone dust that covers everything, including grass and leaves. The stone dust from quarrying for gravel in the vicinity settles on plants and grass around the village creating a major fodder scarcity. Those manning the quarries take up blasting of rocks in the evening between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. The activity has regularly caused tremors, damaging the buildings and structures in the village. Most nights, the loud blasts have the children and other residents rush out of their house in fear. Some buildings have even developed cracks due to the blasts. “The moment the Sun goes down, fear grips us. Within minutes, we can hear blasts from different locations and we live in constant fear thinking our houses might collapse or part of the house may develop cracks. Two months ago, the impact of a blast damaged three asbestos sheets of my house,” Kummari Pochamma, a resident, told The Hindu.

“The problem has been there for the past several years. Our repeated appeals failed to force the officials to act against the mining companies. We do not know what to do. The issue was raised in the recently-held Zilla Parishad general body meeting,” said TDP ZPTC member G. Srikanth Reddy.