Soil extraction by levelling a hillock at Mattappally in Palamel grama panchayat, near Mavelikara, resumed on Monday morning forcing residents to hit the roads in protest. The protesters blocked trucks transporting soil extracted from the area.
The contractor restarted the mining despite an all-party meeting chaired by Agriculture Minister P. Prasad on November 16, 2023 decided to suspend soil extraction until District Collector John V. Samuel submitted a detailed report to the government. The Collector was asked to look into the mining permit issued by the Department of Mining and Geology and whether standard operating procedures were followed at Mattappally. Mr. Samuel who visited the mining site last week has not yet submitted the report.
