MADURAI: Stone quarrying at the Arittapatti hillock has been temporarily halted after peace talks were held with the villagers on Thursday.According to the villagers, a perennial stream flows from the hillock, which feeds a pond in the village — the main drinking water source — that flows into a tank.Over 1,000 acres of land are irrigated by this tank. Agriculture is the main source of income in Arittapatti and Meenakshipuram and Perumalpatti villages.Besides, the hillock has many Jain and Buddhist relics. In fact, private quarry operators, under instructions from the Tamil Nadu Minerals Limited (TAMIN), had marked their site right on the Buddha statue in the hillock. If the hillock is quarried, the entire village would vanish, as the source of water would dry up.The hillock is also a potential tourist destination. The villagers, therefore, have asked the government to permanently stop quarrying operations and to protect the hillock.‘Siva temple, a national concern’VHP district president Somasundaram, who was present at the meeting, told Express that the party was directly involved in the struggle as its international general secretary Praveen Togadia had instructed them to protect the Nakuleeswarar temple atop the hill.The worship of Lord Siva as Nakuleeswarar is predominant in Gujarat and Nepal and some visitors had told Togadia that the temple was in danger due to quarry operations. “We are wondering how a hillock which hosts a rock-cut Shiva temple, and Jain and Buddhist monuments can be quarried when it is actually protected under the archeology department of India,” Somasundaram said. The hills also hosts a Kali temple.“We fear large-scale corruption in this regard and that the departments were hand in glove,” he charged.The VHP has urged the government to stop quarrying, and protect the temples and historical monuments. “We also seek a probe into the issue and persons behind this corruption should be brought to book,” Somasundaram insisted.The villagers had organised a series of agitations recently and had decided to hand over their ration cards to the district administration in protest.According to Murugesh, the villagers represented their grievance over the quarrying of stone at the Arittapatti hillock. Their grievances would be presented to the government and until further orders, quarrying has been halted.
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