Yashodhar Bangera
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (SP)

Mangalore, Aug 11: In connection with a public interest litigation filed by the legal services committee seeking formulation of suitable law to regulate loss of lives and other problems emanating from the laterite stone quarries in the state, the state high court had instructed the state mines and geology department to conduct a detailed study into all the connected aspects and submit a report thereof to the high court.

Towards executing the said order, two advocates belonging to Poovaiah and Company Advocates and Solicitors, Bangalore, arrived in Moodbidri on Sunday August 10 for undertaking visits to different laterite stone quarries and collect details thereof. The duo is representing the legal services committee of the high court.

The advocates, Vikram Hegde and Pratheek, visited the spot in Malady in Beluvai in the taluk, where Suraksha (7) and Sukanya (4) had drowned in the standing water of one such quarry on July 20. They also collected information from the parents of the children. The team observed that the rule that laterite stone quarries should not be set up within 50 metres of human habitats has been blatantly violated here, and a dangerous laterite stone quarry had been dug right next to the house of the victims. The advocates also expressed surprise at the fact that no safety measures had been put in place for this quarry.

The team then visited the area located on both sides of a pathway a little distance behind the school at Kariyanangady where a number of quarries which pose grave danger are located. The advocates found that these quarries are full of rainwater as the concerned had left them unfilled after use, as a result of which people as well as school children, who regularly move about in the area are facing grave danger.

The duo also went to the spot where such a quarry had claimed the lives of Vanishree (12), Meghashree (11), and Yakshita (6), children of Vasu Shettigar and Seeta at Doomadachadavu within Bajpe police station limits, and gathered information.

High court advocate, Vikram Hegde told reporters that during their visits, he and his fellow advocate had found that laterite stone quarries located in places where movement of people and school children is considerable, pose dangers and invite accidents. He expressed surprise at the fact that the departments concerned have woefully failed in their duty to take action against most of the quarries, who are functioning in violation of rules and regulations. He said that they will report to the high court to stipulate conditions like erection of fences around laterite quarries, filling of abandoned quarries with soil after use, and making use of such areas for other purposes thereafter.