Demand for probe into illegal quarrying at Aralam farm

Allegations of Illegal Quarrying at Aralam Farm

Allegations have arisen regarding illegal quarrying on land designated for tribal rehabilitation at Aralam farm. This is reportedly happening under the pretext of sourcing stones for an elephant fence along the Aralam sanctuary. There is a demand for a Vigilance probe into these claims.

Sreeraman Koyyon, president of the Adivasi Dalit Munneta Samithi, accused the Tribal Resettlement Development Mission (TRDM) site manager of allowing violations. He stated that quarrying was permitted to address a reported shortage of granite for the ₹52-crore project.

Quarrying is not allowed within a certain distance from a wildlife sanctuary. Koyyon recalled that a similar extraction by Nirmiti Kendra for tribal housing was stopped in 2006.

According to Koyyon, the contractor began fence work nearly two years ago by quoting below the tender amount. The contractor is now using stones from an old granite protection wall for construction. Despite this, funds were allegedly claimed for fresh granite procurement, while illegal quarrying occurred with the support of officials.

Panchayat president V. Shobha and vice-president Jimmy Anthinattu inspected the site. They confirmed that quarrying activities took place without a no-objection certificate from the panchayat. The inspection also revealed that individuals had encroached upon houses built for tribals and temporarily occupied them. Following the panchayat secretary’s instructions, orders were issued to stop all quarrying activities.

In response to the allegations, officials stated that no quarrying had occurred in the rehabilitation area. They claimed that only stone quality testing was conducted. TRDM site manager C. Shyju said the goal was to assess granite availability for the elephant fence project.

S. Sujeesh, managing director of Aralam Farm, stated that no permission had been granted for quarrying or granite quality testing. He clarified that the contract required sourcing stones from outside. When the contractor reported a stone shortage during a review meeting, the farm office sought the District Collector’s opinion on using stones from the Kottappara area.