A section of members of the ‘Tiruchi Maavatta Manal Maatu Vandi Thozhilalar Sangam’, owing allegiance to the CITU, staged a demonstration here on Tuesday urging the State government and the Public Works Department to reopen the sand quarries along the Kollidam river at Madhavaperumal Koil and Thalakudi villages to enable transportation of sand through bullock carts and thereby protect the livelihood of several labourers involved in this activity.
The demonstration, headed by the Sangam’s district president G. K. Ramar, was organised near the District Collectorate for nearly one-and-half hours. Around 100 members of the Sangam who participated in the demonstration raised slogans urging the State government and the district administration not put the lives of the labourers involved in transportation of sand through bullock carts in jeopardy. They wondered why the two sand quarries were not reopened at a time when TASMAC liquor outlets and big commercial establishments were reopened during the pandemic period.
The Sangam members later submitted a memorandum to the District Collector after the demonstration. In the memorandum addressed to the Collector, Mr. Ramar said the livelihood of around 2,000 families which were dependent on transportation of sand through bullock carts were affected badly. The bulls were suffering from hunger, Mr. Ramar said. At a time when the State government had announced several relaxations in a phased manner and with construction activities also resuming, the government should immediately reopen the sand quarries at Madhavaperumal Koil and Thalakudi villages thereby protecting the labourers and their families, he further said.