Dust to dust – The Hindu

If one were to see a bird’s-eye view of Uthiramerur taluk of Kanchipuram district, it would probably be a canvas of brown with small spots of green. However, this was not the case in the recent past. A vast area of ​​land is known for kuda olai The electoral system and the picturesque temple architecture are being “greyed out” due to the large number of granite quarries and crushing units. Almost every tree and plant, roads, roadside mud and crops in the fields in and around villages including Siruthamur, Pazhaveri, Arugundram, Pazhaya Sivaram, Alanjeri and Thirumukkudal have turned brown due to the quarrying and stone crushing units producing M-sand. On a cloudy November afternoon, the roads around these units look eerie, and the trees appear frozen as if they are frightened.

Estimates suggest that about 60 villages in the region are affected by quarrying, and there are about 80 mines. According to a mapper, data from the National Remote Sensing Center shows that in 2005-06, the total was 4.21 sq. m. Km. Mining was going on in the then Kanchipuram district. The area increased to 33.13 square km. in 2015–16, but this figure also includes some sand mining areas. The district also witnessed a reduction in land under paddy, one of the major reasons for which is quarrying.

Farmers in Alanjeri said that a proposed mine (blank The land against which they were protesting (as they call it) was fenced off where a channel carrying water from the hill passes. “The channel, built by the Rural Development Department, used to carry water to our irrigation tank, in which two wells that meet our drinking water needs are located. The water gets contaminated by mine dust and if water does not fill the Alanjeri tank, a chain of 10 other tanks will not get water. We used to grow three crops of paddy a year. Now, we are struggling to grow one crop,” said V. Balakrishnan, a farmer.

There are only Dalit farmers in the village and they claim that the first mine in their village is located on Panchami land which was unknowingly sold in pieces to others. Vijayakumar, another farmer, said, “We have been pleading with the Collector for many years to stop the operation of the mine and not allow another mine. The new mine is on the route of the annual procession of our village deities Theni Amman and Palani Amman. They will not allow us to take even a detour.”

Farmers lead the fight

C. Devaraj of Arungundram said his father Chinnapayyan was the first to die in an accident caused by heavy vehicles carrying stones from the mine. “He was one of the first people to protest against mine operations in the area. This was in November 2003.” In one village, the panchayat president refused to pass a resolution against the mines because he himself was the owner of the mine. He added, “In some cases the mines are so close to each other that we have no space to graze our animals.” Last year, farmer leaders from several villages had gone on a hunger strike demanding relief for Rajendran, a farmer whose land could not be cultivated because the well had dried up due to mine operations. “We were not even given police permission to use chairs for the protest,” said Harikrishnan from Pazhaveri. Mr. Rajendran said that it has been 12 years since his well went dry. He said, “I am struggling against mine operators and survive on the income from milch animals. If I approach elected representatives, they tell me to sell the land given to me by my ancestors. I don’t want a car or an air conditioner; I want to grow crops on my land and hand it over to my son to grow food for the people.”

Farmer leader Manavalan said that public hearings for new mines are not held in the village or nearby, but in places where the mine owners garner enough supporters compared to their opponents. “Last year, a public hearing for a mine saw a very angry argument between farmers and an IAS officer. We had asked him to travel with us on a bike without a helmet, to feel the kind of dust we inhale from trucks carrying uncovered stones. People are suffering from asthma and wheezing. Basic rules like sprinkling water regularly to prevent dust from blowing in the mines are not followed,” Mr. Harikrishnan said.

accidents are a daily occurrence

The village roads running around the taluk are like heaps of dirt for powerful trucks carrying the blue metal and stones. “Since vehicles are always overloaded, they cannot stop as quickly as they should. We shy away from sending children to school because accidents keep happening. We are constantly fighting a battle with trucks. The two bridges over the Palar river, which connect Pazhaya Sivaram and Thirumukkudal and Avalur and Walajahabad, continue to see a flow of vehicles on all days except Sundays,” said BJP’s Premkumar, who is leading protests in the area and There are demands for restrictions in time for trucks. drive. Farmers are demanding that the timing of trucks be regulated so that students can travel safely.

Mines and stone breaking units are a major source of blown dust, which is a significant environmental concern that arises at almost every stage of operation. Dust is emitted during unloading of raw materials, crushing, screening, transportation and storage of finished products. As stones are broken, shaken on vibrating screens, transported along conveyor belts, and stored in open stores, fine particles – especially stone dust – are blown into the air. A study in 2023 International Journal of Health Sciences and Research found that chronic exposure to silica dust significantly impairs lung function in stone quarry workers in South India. The researchers observed that lung damage was highest among loaders, followed by stone grinders, drillers, blasters and stone cutters.

The problem is particularly severe with fine materials such as stone dust, which are easily carried by the wind and can remain in the air for long periods. The dust emitted from stone quarries not only affects the workers at the site but also the people living nearby. Purnima Prabhakaran, director of the Center for Health Analytics Research and Trends at Ashoka University, said that although the dust particles emitted from mines are relatively large, they are hazardous to human health. He said prolonged exposure to high dust levels can cause respiratory problems, silicosis and skin or eye irritation.

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has outlined stringent guidelines for stone crushing units. These include the need for a complete enclosure around the crusher and screen to trap dust at the source. Additionally, units should install fine-mist water sprinklers to wet dust particles, as well as bag filters and dry dust-extraction systems to capture airborne dust. Conveyor belts should be completely covered to prevent dust from escaping, and discharge points should be fitted with telescopic chute to control dust emission while transferring materials. Stores of crushed material should either be kept wet or covered to reduce dust dispersion, thereby ensuring that emissions are minimized and air quality in and around crusher areas is protected.

SM Shiva Nagendra, professor in the department of civil engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras and an expert in air quality monitoring, said the carrying capacity of areas near mines should be assessed. He said quarrying close to residential areas contributes significantly to pollution.

CPCB guidelines also say that internal roads should be paved to prevent recurrence of dust; Windproof walls and foggers should be installed; And the accumulated dust is cleaned regularly. Units must also recycle water used for suppression and monitor ambient air to ensure control of particulate emissions. While industries are required to implement continuous real-time air quality monitoring, mines are not bound by the same regulation. However, even with these monitoring systems in place, they cannot fully capture the extent of pollution. Mr Nagendra pointed out that current air quality monitoring stations measure pollution only within a radius of one kilometre, thereby missing the full extent of pollution affecting the surrounding areas.

In July 2025, after several units came under investigation for violations, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) directed the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) to impose strict standards for granting or renewing consent to operate (CTO) for exploration and mining units in the state. It ruled that quarrying activities should not continue until penalties for past environmental violations were paid in full. These violations include failure to maintain safety distances, inadequate fencing and greenbelt development, inadequate dust control measures and exceeding approved extraction limits.

NGT directed TNPCB to require water sprinkling, greenbelt development, black-top roads and equipment enclosures before granting CTO. It also recommended that greenbelt development begin at the application stage itself to ensure that plants are ready when operations begin.

G. of environmental organization Poovulagin Nanbergal. Sundararajan called for third-party audits to identify mine clusters and cumulative impact assessments to evaluate impacts on groundwater and air quality. He also pointed to other states like Telangana, which use satellite imagery to monitor sand mining and storage in real time and suggested that Tamil Nadu also adopt a similar approach.

There is lack of law in the state

A senior hydrogeologist, who preferred to remain anonymous, said the lack of proper legislation to regulate mining and groundwater extraction is the main reason for the current situation. The management of groundwater is governed by only one government order: MS 142. A draft Tamil Nadu Groundwater (Development and Management) Act has been prepared, but has not yet been enacted. Mining is a major topic in this Act because mining for coal or sand or rock will affect groundwater extraction. The groundwater level in Neyveli, which used to be at 6 feet earlier, is now at 35 feet-40 feet due to continuous mining, he said. He said now there is regulation only at the individual mine level. No one is seeing the bigger picture and this is causing harm to the environment.

An ecologist said that as people continue to extract material from the mines, the surrounding groundwater level will go down. In the long run, the nature of the soil will change due to lack of water. This will gradually lead to desertification, the types of plants capable of growing on such soil will change and farmers will have to change their crops. Food crops will disappear. One day, instead of turning brown, the soil will become “bald” and not be able to grow anything.

There is no alternative to M-Sand

A former government official who worked in Kanchipuram said the district administration was aware of the matter and at times as many as 30 mines were closed. “Mine owners have been warned to keep the tops of trucks covered with tarpaulins and have been instructed to carry only approved load. TNPCB has a big role in controlling the mines,” he said. However, without the mines, construction activities and road construction in and around the city would come to a halt. “Give us alternative materials for M-sand, gravel and blue metal. Since river sand cannot be mined, the administration has no other option but to allow rock mining,” he said.

The District Environment Engineer of Kanchipuram accepted the complaints and representations regarding pollution from stone quarries. “We have received the memorandum forwarded from the collectorate. They have asked for a report and we are starting work on it,” he said.