MADURAI
The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday directed the Thoothukudi Collector to ascertain and suspend the operation of granite quarries located within a 10-km radius of Vallanadu Wildlife sanctuary.
A Division Bench of Justices N. Kirubakaran and S. S. Sundar, which was hearing a public interest litigation petition filed by D. Vijaykumar of Thoothukudi in 2017, ordered the National Board for Wildlife to file a counter and adjourned the case.
The petitioner said private parties were operating granite quarries without obtaining clearance from the National Board for Wildlife and the Forest department. He sought a direction to restrain them from operating quarries in the region.
The court had earlier directed the Collector and the Assistant Director of Geology and Mining to ensure that there were no quarrying operations in the region until clearance was obtained from the National Board for Wildlife.