Greyed earth in temple belt sends villages reeling

A sprawling expanse of villages in the kuda olai system region of Kancheepuram district is visibly transforming under the impact of granite quarries and stone-crushing units that supply manufactured sand.

- HD Bureau

Villages including Siruthamur, Pazhaveri, Arungundram, Pazhaya Seev-aram, Alanjeri and Thir-umukkudal now share a uniform grey pallor: trees, roadside earth, crop fields and village lanes alike bear the same ashen hue. Locals describe the roads around the quarrying sites as eerie and motionless, an unsettling stillness echoing the region's temple architecture now overshadowed by industrial dust.

The quarrying cluster has been approved through multiple environmental clearances by the State Level Environment Impact Assessment Authority-Tamil Nadu which has noted the proximity of habitation, water bodies and agricultural lands to lease areas in Siruthamur village.

One memo identified that quarries lay within 300 metres of local habitations, and that some operations were located in water-catchment zones adjacent to farm plots.