Ban on mining revoked

Thiruvananthapuram: The state government has revoked a ban that was imposed on mining and quarrying in the aftermath of the flood and landslide, in the light of the Disaster Management Authority having withdrawn alerts after intense raining has receded,  says an order issued by Mining and Geology department.

However, ban issued at regional level by state and district disaster management authorities will continue to be in force. .

The government has revoked the ban without a scientific study, though experts have pointed out that excessive mining caused widespread landslides.

It was found that there are thousands of quarries in the areas which affected landslides. Revocation of the ban comes after just 11 days as it was slapped on 9 August.

Though in official data the number of quarries is around 750, it is estimated that there are nearly 6,000 big and small quarries across the state.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had assured that a change will be brought in the mode of construction and techniques like pre-fab models will be promoted.  However, so far no actions have been taken in this regard.  There were complaints that the construction sector faced a crisis after the mining was suspended.