Naam Tamilar Katchi leader Senthamizhan Seeman, recently, in a strong protest, attended by thousands of people at Thakkalai in Kanyakumari chided the Tamil Nadu government for its failure to take action against illegal quarrying at the Western Ghats and the unlawful transportation of mineral resources to Kerala to enable industrialist Adani to build a seaport at Vizhinjam. WSN reports.

Amidst overwhelming cheers and applause from the participants at the protest in Kanyakumari, NTK leader Seeman, in his typical style, warned the Tamil Nadu government to stop Kerala from illegal quarrying, alleging that the loot was taking place to placate and support industrialist Adani’s building of a seaport at Vizhinjam.

“We have nothing against utilizing the gravel pits, but quarrying the mountains is a dangerous trend. This act will turn the land into a desert. Hence, as a responsible government, the natural resources must be safeguarded and handed over to the next generation in all its glory and wealth.”

Why is the Kerala government not quarrying their own mountains, utilizing their own resources and handing them over to Adani to build the seaport? Is it that Kerala’s resources should stay intact and the resources of Tamil Nadu should be destroyed, asked the NTK leader Seeman calling for a more determined struggle to stop the loot. 

“We aren’t fools to sit and watch this plundering happen in front of our own eyes. Tamilnadu’s sand resources have already been depleted to the hilt from the river beds of Tamirabharani, Palaru and others. This exploitation was systematically done by Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Now, Adani is building a seaport in Vizhinjam and a port at Kattupalli. We will not tolerate it, said Seeman.

“Is it Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s prime duty to work for the interest of Adani rather than of the country?”

The mountains of the Western Ghats are a gift of nature and we, human beings have no right to destroy things not created by us. The Tamil Nadu government must immediately stop the demolition of our mountains and the smuggling of sand from them.

“Is it Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s prime duty to work for the interest of Adani rather than of the country?”

The Tamil Nadu government must intervene and stop the smuggling activities of mineral resources that were quarried in the mountains of Western Ghats, Kanyakumari. 

Seeman reminded the Tamil Nadu government that he had warned the state government on 22 July and 3 August, but the authorities failed to act. The protest saw sloganeering to protect the natural resources of Tamil Nadu, with party cadres from across the state taking a pledge to protest the smuggling of scarce Tamil Nadu resources to Kerala. 

In a reply to a section of the media, Seeman said, “I have said many times that nothing is going to happen. They have sold airports and ports to the private sector and that is how Adani is currently building the port in Vizhinjam. 21,000-crore worth of drugs have been smuggled into the Adani Port in Gujarat and no one will talk about it because this country is being ruled by big private players like Adani. This is my country and they have brought in foreign investment into the defence sector as well, for procuring military equipment.”

Poking fun at the Congress for questioning the Congress party’s protest of his remarks on MGNREGA, Seeman rebuked them saying, “That’s good news. Initially, I started by campaigning and fighting against the Congress in 2008-2009 in the backdrop of the Sri Lanka war and now they are fighting against me. Times have changed.” 

“I started by campaigning and fighting against the Congress in 2008-2009 in the backdrop of the Sri Lanka war and now they are fighting against me. Times have changed.” 

It is time to realise before it is too late that the wealth of a country depends on the land resources that the country possesses; the land resources, in turn, depend on the water resources. Likewise, water resources depend on the richness of the mountains that a country possesses.”