Govt must act against illegal quarrying: HC

CHENNAI: The State government must act against those who are exploiting the mineral wealth in violation of lease conditions and by illegal quarrying, said Madras High Court on Monday. “An appropriate report should be filed by a senior official in the government when the matter appears next on June 29,” the first bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy said.

The court passed the order on a PIL seeking for the immediate stopping of illegal quarrying undertaken at several places. When the plea came up for hearing, the court said: “The matter has been pending for some time and, primarily because of the second surge of the pandemic, not much attention could be given to it in the last few weeks.” 

However, that does not mean that the State does not have to be vigilant to ensure that quarrying activities are undertaken only in accordance with the terms of the licenses granted and that the licensees adhere to the limited areas earmarked for them