Government for talks, protesters say stop mining first

KOLLAM: The state government on Saturday decided to convene a conciliatory meeting on the Alappad mining issue, but protesters said they would attend the talks only after the mining was stopped.

Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan decided to convene the meeting in Thiruvananthapuram on January 16. Ministers for industries and fisheries E P Jayarajan and J Mercykutty Amma, respectively, would attend the meeting.

The residents of Alappad and nearby villages, under the banner of anti-mining People's Protest Council, have been on a relay hunger strike at Vellanathuruthu near Alappad for the last 73 days, demanding a complete halt to the "illegal and unscientific" mineral sand mining activities.

The council activists said the mining has shrunk Alappad panchayat to 7.6 square kilometre from the 89.5 square kilometre shown in a lithographic map drawn decades ago.

Industries minister E P Jayarajan said the ministry would look into the issues and take a decision accordingly. "Shore erosion was not there earlier. We are aware of the situation," he told reporters.

Fisheries minister Mercykutty Amma said being a public sector enterprise, the Indian Rare Earth (IRE) should engage in responsible mining without affecting the erosion of shoreline. "They (IRE) should engage in mining by protecting the shore. This is what the people want and the government stands by the people," she said.

The minister added that the environmental committee of the legislative assembly had conducted an impact study. "They have suggested the sustainable manner in which the mining should take place," she said.

The agitators said earlier discussion with IRE had failed and fresh dialogue would serve no purpose until mining was stopped completely. "All previous dialogues have ended with the society being cheated," K S Sreekumar, a protester said.

An IRE official said the company had been following all mining norms. Besides central public-sector undertaking IRE, state government-owned Kerala Minerals and Metals Limited, too, have been mining mineral sand along the beach since the 1960s.