One of the electric poles in precarious condition in a red earth mined area in Thadagam Valley in Coimbatore district.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
The Thadagam Valley Protection Committee has sought action against brick kiln operators who allegedly left electric poles in five village panchayats in precarious condition due to illegal mining of red earth.
Though the mining and brick kiln making in Chinna Thadagam, Veerapandi, Nanjundapuram, Somaiyampalayam and Pannimadai village panchayats in the Valley are stopped following the intervention of the Madras High Court in June 2021, several electric poles are left on the edges of mining pits.
“The committee counted over 120 electric poles that are either situated on edges of mining pits or left on cylindrical pieces of land around them. They can fall in strong wind or rain and can pose a threat to people and wildlife. Tangedco should impose fines on those who have caused the damages,” said S. Ganesh of Thadagam Valley Protection Committee.
According to Mr. Ganesh, there are 22 tribal villages in forest areas of the Valley and power connections to these places are given through these poles. Elephants move through forest peripheries in the Valley as they avoid steep areas. Electric poles that are unstable can endanger elephants, if they fall on them, similar to the electrocution of a tusker at nearby Poochiyur village on Saturday, he said.
The committee has made multiple representations to the Forest Department, Tangedco Chairman and other officials concerned about the condition of the electric poles.
Welcoming the decision taken by the Madras High Court Judges Justices N. Sathish Kumar and D. Bharatha Chakravarthy to visit the Valley to physically assess the brick earth mined area, the committee hoped that the Judges would take note of the condition of these electric poles too.
Revenue Department sources said the condition of the electric poles in Thadagam Valley had come to the attention of authorities and such poles would be checked by the Tangedco while mapping low-lying electric cables within a distance of one to five km from forest boundaries, an instruction given by the District Collector on Saturday.
