Farmers urge Andhar government to stop mining in Kalyana Lova dam catchment area

VIJAYAWADA: Tribals and farmer representatives from Kalyana Lova Reservoir catchment and command area in Visakhapatnam made an SOS appeal to the State government to protect the reservoir from the threat of granite mining, for which permissions were given based on “false data”.

Speaking to media persons here on Thursday, before meeting the government officials, PS Ajay Kumar, national secretary of All India Agriculture and Rural Labour Association (AIARLA) said Kalyana Lova catchment area spread over 21 sq km has a sizeable population of tribals and around 5,000 acres are irrigated under Kalyana Lova reservoir constructed 40 years ago.

“In 2016, the then TDP government had issued permission for four quarries, of which two are functioning. No Objection Certificate was not secured from the Irrigation Department, which was mandatory, before giving permission for mining granite. Further, it was mentioned that there were no habitations within one-kilometer radius of the quarry, while there is village which is hardly 240 feet away from the quarry,” he explained.

According to him, the debris from the quarry is being dumped on the hill slope, where hill streams flow when it rains. “It is obstructing the flow of water to the reservoir,” he pointed out.

He also cited environmental laws and Supreme Court directions that no activity should be carried out in the unmorphed catchment area of any reservoir.

Former minister Vadde Sobhanadreeswara Rao also expressed concern over the development and observed that it is very objectionable that the government is paying a deaf ear to the appeals of tribals in Kalyana Lova, which hold a mythological significance to them. “Further, the mining activity poses a grave danger for the reservoir.

Social activist Sujaya said the movement of heavy trucks creating vibration on the earthen dam weakening the structure.