A coordination committee of quarry operators and tipper lorry owners staged protests at three different locations in Kozhikode district on Monday as part of their State-wide agitation flaying “hostile legal actions” by the Geology Department and the Vigilance squad.
The protesters who held the State government accountable for not resolving genuine issues of entrepreneurs in the sector alleged that they were being victimised in the name of rules. They claimed that the legal actions were meant to torture the lower income groups.
M.K. Babu, a functionary of Small Scale Quarry Owners Association, said the flaws in the existing laws for controlling quarry and allied businesses should be rectified at the earliest, to protect the rights of both labourers and entrepreneurs. He alleged that some rules and regulations were meant to safeguard the interests of big corporates.
The strike was organised in the wake of a recent incident in which a tipper lorry driver from Kozhikode district allegedly attempted suicide after he was heavily fined by the Geology Department for overloading. According to him, the fine amount of ₹50,000 to compound the offence was unthinkable for even large-scale entrepreneurs. It was a Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) squad that tracked the alleged offence during a flash check and reported it to the Geology Department for follow-up action.
