Quarry blasts give this village tremors
Residents of Pure Baijnath village in Allahabad district have been experiencing ‘tremors’ three times a day for the past six months due to blasts in stone quarries close to the settlement.
These unnatural tremors are causing cracks even in their concrete houses in Bara tehsil but the subdivisional magistrate has denied knowledge of any such activity.
Villagers fear that their houses may collapse anytime if the blasts continue. They say the village receives a shower of rocks and pebbles as blasts for stone quarrying are carried out three times a day.
Although these rocks have hit no one yet, villagers say fragments of boulders landing on roofs and courtyards are endangering their lives.
Moreover, a massive storm of dust and gas released after blasting invades the village causing allergies and respiratory problems. The dust contains small rock particles, which are hazardous for the lungs.
“Every time blasts are carried out at the quarries nearby, it feels like we are experiencing an earthquake. My house is on the road leading to the quarries and is very close to the blasting sites. Utensils fall on the ground and walls develop cracks after each blast. The contractors inform us to take shelter at safer places only minutes before the blasting is done. This is done three times a day. We cannot eat and sleep properly. Even the walls of the primary school in the village have developed cracks,” complained Rampyari Prajapati, a villager, adding that officials did not care for their lives.
Other villagers said a woman Kalawati staged a sit-in when miners tried to carry out blasts too close to her house some weeks ago.
Kalawati’s house, which is barely 20 metres away from the quarry, had developed cracks but she refused to leave the site where the blast was to be carried out.
Villagers Shyamsundar and Shastri said, “Blasts started being carried out in quarries only six months ago as earlier the work was done manually. The use of explosives is not only endangering our lives, but has also rendered us jobless. Most of the men and women in Pure Baijnath and surrounding villages were engaged as labourers in the quarries (earlier), but now we have no source of income after the contractors started using machines and explosives to break rocks,” they said.
Another villager Mahaveer said: “I started experiencing respiratory problems after the blasts started in the quarries. Many villagers visited doctors who advised them to leave the village or get the blasts stopped. But we have nowhere to go,” he said.
A villager, who refused to be named, said the company which was carrying out the mining did not have permission to use machines and explosives. Nandlal Yadav and Motilal Kushwaha said they complained to some officials during a site visit around a month back. However, they allegedly refuse to listen to their problems. Instead, the police chased the villagers away, they claimed. The blasts are carried out very close to houses built under Lohia Awas Yojna. “The walls at the Lohia Awas Yojna quarters have developed cracks and are not safe for living,” said Harilal Mushar.
Rajkumar Dwivedi, subdivisional magistrate of Bara tehsil, said:“I visited the site sometime back but found no such activity. However, I will send teams to check if blasting is carried out close to the village and is endangering lives of villagers. I will also visit the site and take strict action if the company is found involved in illegal use of machines and explosives at the stone quarries.”