Mining Of Quarries In Anakapalli Leave Tribal Lands Under Debris
Tribal leaders allege that officials are continuing to grant environmental permits for new quarries, worsening the situation.
Visakhapatnam: Tribal farmers in Anakapalli district staged a bare-chested protest against indiscriminate granite quarrying. They charge that the debris of mining is being haphazardly dumped, including on lands of tribal people.
Tribal farmers pointed out that streams at Singarapu Gedda and Dudekula Gedda irrigated the fields of farmers at Oota Gedda. However, granite quarrying waste has been dumped into these streams, blocking the water flow.
While some farmers who could afford spent thousands of rupees to clear the debris, poorer tribal cultivators remain helpless. Protesters say their complaints lodged with the district collector, Narsipatnam revenue divisional officer, and local revenue officials have evoked no response, fuelling accusations that mining operators are influencing the administration.
Tribal leaders of Komiri and Urla Hill Sagudarula Sangham, including Solam Rajababu, Tokala Eswaramma, and Turre Narasimha Murthy charged that officials are continuing to grant environmental permits for new quarries, worsening the situation.
The movement of tribal people has gained support from political and social organisations, with CPM district executive member K. Govinda Rao, Girijana Sangam district secretary E. Narasimha Murthy, and Vyavasaya Karmika leader V. Bhavani joining the call for justice.
Tribal leaders insist that only direct intervention by the joint collector can protect their lands and homes. They requested the JC and officials to personally inspect their fields and houses to witness the damage caused by quarrying.
Further, tribal people said lands had been allotted to them through D-pattas in 1985 in the Komiri revenue area of Ravikamatham mandal. But these have been wrongly reclassified as government property after a re-survey. Tribal leaders said 10 families depending on cashew plantations for survival now face the threat of losing their livelihoods.
In addition, tribal leaders said legislators from Madugula and Chodavaram constituencies had in November 2025 promised to issue land titles to farmers cultivating lands under the Urlava Hill. However, there has been no progress on this matter even after nine months.
