V. Nataraja, a native of Kuppam mandal in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh, wakes up early due to the constant ringing of the alarm. To confirm whether it is still dark, he peeks out the window. The 27-year-old, who works as an electrician in a Bengaluru company, gets ready early and reaches the Chittoor-Bengaluru National Highway to catch the first 5 am bus to Bengaluru, at least 120 kilometers away from his village.
From the time Nataraj woke up till he boarded the bus, there was continuous wheezing and low-pitched metallic sounds.
Roads in the rural areas of Bangarupalem, Palamaner and Kuppam mandals located at the tri-state junction in Chittoor district present a similar picture, where granite mining is at the heart of the hardships that residents of the villages are facing.
Mining activities throughout the year
The non-stop, year-round mining activity destroys mineral wealth that had remained untouched for centuries. In the early hours, as mechanical drills begin to cut the rock, sparks flash and disappear. The dust rises slowly, settling like a thin curtain on everything. Workers walk across deep craters and over the edges of peaks, while their screams are drowned out by the constant hum of the compressors. A giant crane groans as it lifts a huge block of black granite from the earth. Within minutes, the rugged rock is dropped onto a truck waiting below.
The truck will be on the highway by noon. This goods can reach Chennai or Krishnapatnam port in a day or two. A few weeks later, it may reach a huge processing yard in China. By the time it hits the global market again, it will have been polished and refined into part of a building or monument. Its origin becomes almost invisible.
So the journey of Chittoor Granite continues like this.
It is also the saga of a region where stone is slowly beginning to dictate the terms of life. Till five decades ago, life in Chittoor district moved to a different rhythm. Agriculture remained its backbone and the seasons determined its pace. Although stones were present in abundance, they were used largely for tools, houses, and temples. Even during the British Raj, when mining expanded in other parts of the country, the area remained largely untouched.
A paradigm shift occurred in Chittoor in the 1980s, when the demand for polished granite increased in international markets. Chittoor’s mineral wealth and geological diversity became a center of attraction for industry. Underneath its dry fields lay high quality stones of dark black, light grey, green, white, galaxy and richly patterned varieties that appealed to international traders. As dusk fell, small-scale clandestine excavations gradually transformed into an open and thriving network of extraction, transportation and export.
The mandals of the erstwhile Chittoor district including Kuppam, Shantipuram, Palamaner, Bangarupalem, Yadamari, Gudipala, Gangadhar Nellore, Chittoor, Nagari, Vijayapuram, Pilar, Punganur and Madanapalle witnessed hectic activity with the arrival of heavy machinery.
Fields soon turned into mine pits and heavy vehicles began to ply on rural roads. The simple rural area of Chittoor, which was once marginalized, gradually started making its place in the global markets.
Today, the Granite Belt in this region walks a blurry line between regulation and piracy. While some licensed mines operate within prescribed limits and produce export-grade stone, a few hundred mines, reportedly illegally, operate from Kuppam to Nagari with round-the-clock extraction and transportation activities. Also, repeated enforcement campaigns by the Department of Mines and Geology struggle to establish violations, while most cases remain under-reported.
‘Strict monitoring on illegal mining’
Deputy Director (Mines and Geology) SKV Satyanarayan admits that despite keeping a close watch on illegal mining activities, criminals continue to operate clandestinely in some parts of the area. “During our raids, we seize vehicles, machinery, granite blocks and equipment used in excavation operations. The irony is that by the time we reach, no one is present at the sites. Thanks to constant surveillance, we have managed to neutralize many such units,” he said.
The official said that since the Mines and Geology Department does not have the power to arrest criminals, it has to depend on the police to carry out such tasks. On the vast tract of land along the borders of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, there are barely two or three officers, including the deputy director and his driver, to monitor the area passing through hills, valleys and forests.
Cases are registered under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, leading to confiscation of granite blocks, machinery and vehicles, with fines amounting to several lakh rupees. Although the system appears rigid on paper, in practice, it has come under public criticism for being far more flexible.
A panoramic view of granite rich hills in Bangarupalem mandal of Chittoor district. | Photo courtesy: K. Umashankar
lapses in mining practices
In the granite citadel of Kuppam, concerns over illegal quarrying have repeatedly come under the scrutiny of the National Green Tribunal, which has flagged serious lapses in mining practices. The issue also attracted political attention when TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu in recent years, as leader of the opposition and now as Chief Minister, personally inspected the mines in and around Kuppam. He expressed concern over uncontrolled mining, pointing to environmental damage and revenue loss, and called for tighter monitoring. In recent weeks, Kuppam police have registered cases after seizing some mines and machinery.
Granite blocks are constantly moving out of the district towards Chennai and Krishnapatnam ports. With the increase in illegal mining, many members of the syndicate prefer to shift the blocks to Chennai, where polishing and sizing work is completed before export. Some importers in countries like China readily accept raw blocks because they have advanced polishing facilities. “Each consignment should have proper documents, including transit permits, challans and weighbridge slips. But in most of the cases, these records are duplicated, altered or manipulated,” said a police officer from Chittoor district.
A transporter near Palamaner, who claims to have spent “30 years in the industry”, put it bluntly: “If your papers are weak, you pay. If your backing is strong, you walk away. This is no drama; that’s how things work.”
Chittoor Collector Sumit Kumar, responding to the concerns, said that illegal mining is not absent. “In a short span of time, the granite industry has expanded rapidly. Chittoor is home to some of the finest granite varieties. Despite the shortage of staff, inspections are continuing. Our priority is to protect government revenue. An action plan will be prepared to streamline the system,” he said.
Ramanujam Chalapathi, senior Telugu Desam Party leader in Nagari assembly constituency, is upset that the excavation activities pose a serious threat to the life and health of over 400 families living in half a dozen localities on the outskirts of Nagari town. “Whenever there is a blast in the stone quarry in Kanavapalle village, the deafening noise echoes across six settlements. The livelihood of the people in this area is at high risk. Most of the residents complain of severe respiratory problems due to the mine dust. Medical examination should be conducted on all of them. They appeal to the authorities to address their plight, but no one responds. This has been going on for years.”
‘Devastated by excavation works’
Nagari Nose, the peak of the Nagari Hills located between Tirupati and Tiruttani in Tamil Nadu, is widely acclaimed by nature lovers as a geological wonder. Kodandam, a B.Tech student from Puttur, said, “Now the foothills are being ravaged by excavation works. The Puttur-Chennai National Highway, which once offered a beautiful landscape along the road, is now destroyed due to blasting activities. The environmental destruction is obvious and an open secret, yet no one stops it.”
Villagers in the granite belt of GD Nellore and Yadamari mandal expressed similar concerns, especially over persistent dust accumulation on crops and increasing respiratory diseases. Mines, which operate around the clock, generate clouds of fine dust.
“As per government rules, the application fees collected for mine leases should be given to local panchayats for developmental activities. In fact, no panchayat in our assembly constituency has received funds through this route in recent years. There is no difference between illegal and legal mining. It is a big business. No one is allowed to go near the boundaries of the mine sites,” said Girisha, a technical expert from Yadamarri mandal.
no identity of workers
At the center of it all is a workforce that rarely gets attention. The mine sites in Chittoor are heavily dependent on migrant workers from the north-western districts of Tamil Nadu. They come in groups, bringing with them the “rich and extraordinary” expertise required to cut and handle granite.
“There is no shortage of labour. At any time of the year, around 3,000 workers are employed in Chittoor. A worker who enters a mine does not return home with less than ₹3,000 per day if he works from morning till evening. Work is available round the clock. Legal or illegal, we do not care. Even if one mine closes, we move to another. Compared to previous years, safety measures have improved, although accidents still happen And many go unregistered. Compensation is assured in case of casualties,” said Vel Muruga, a senior mason from Vellore.
Altaf Kausar, 47, from Chittoor, who has 25 years of experience in granite mining, said the current system of directly submitting applications for mining leases is a welcome change. “This process takes away from tendering, which benefits only the rich and corporates. The application-based approach makes entry into the mining sector affordable even for middle class families. Although the sector is highly risky, it also gives substantial profits. If you invest ₹5 crore in a year, it can turn into ₹15 crore,” he said.
Khan Bhai, 65, from Chittoor, a former mining lessee, summarized the development of mining in Rayalaseema: “In the 1980s, the application fee was ₹150 per hectare of granite field; now it is ₹1.8 lakh. Those I once saw as workers are now self-styled dons, wearing gold and diamond rings on eight fingers, wearing heavy gold chains, traveling in expensive SUVs, Invest heavily in real estate, and travel abroad frequently, while some are directly involved in politics, while their children are aspiring politicians.
Loss to the government.
On the losses the government is incurring due to illegal mining, a former revenue official said: “Even a small discrepancy per truck becomes huge when hundreds of trips a day add up. You are looking at losses running into crores.”
A Chittoor police officer, on condition of anonymity, admitted that the perception of low risk also encourages illegal operations. “People booked in illegal mining cases are rarely arrested. Even if arrested, they get bail immediately. Legal proceedings last for years. Fines, which are negligible compared to the money earned, are often realized much later. This delay significantly reduces the impact of enforcement.”
Another official commented, “You know why China is the largest importer of granite from the region. The government there takes action against illegal mining at the speed of a bullet. Covert operations are immediately shut down, assets are confiscated and criminals are blacklisted. The guilty can face jail terms of up to seven years and eventually become paupers in society.”
Chittoor’s proximity to Tamil Nadu is an added advantage for the industry. Granite businesses on both sides are closely linked, sharing labor, transportation routes, and markets. Trucks cross state borders easily.
umashonker.kk@thehindu.co.in
