Mangaluru : Deputy Commissioner A B Ibrahim has released Rs 22 lakh from the corpus fund towards construction of protective walls around stone quarries in the district.

Building of protective walls intend to prevent accidents in active or defunct stone quarries.

Chairing a review meeting at his office on Wednesday, he said even after two rounds of meeting with Tahsildars and Taluk Panchayat Executive Officers, towards construction of protective walls, work has not been initiated yet.

He directed Tahsildars to issue notices to stone quarry owners to build protective walls within a week. The released amount must be utilised towards constructing protective walls in the lands belonging to BPL families and the government.

Cheques bearing the amount of Rs 5 lakh, Rs 2 lakh, Rs 8 lakh, Rs 5 lakh and Rs 2 lakh were released to Taluk Panchayat EOs of Bantwal, Belthangadi, Mangaluru, Puttur and Sullia taluks respectively. Mines and Geology Department Deputy Director N Ramappa said out of 858 stone quarries in the district, 172 have been closed and fences have been erected around 179 quarries. Protective walls need to be constructed around 507 quarries, Ramappa said.

As per information furnished by Tahsildars of respective taluks, in Bantwal, there are 210 quarries, 16 have been closed and 13 have been fenced and 181 are remaining. In Belthangadi, there are 72 quarries, 41 have been closed, 22 have been fenced and nine are remaining.

In Mangaluru there are 382 quarries, 19 have been closed, 93 have been fenced and 270 are remaining. In Puttur, there are 145 quarries, 68 have been closed, 51 have been fenced and 26 are remaining. In Sullia, there are 49 quarries, 28 have been closed and 21 are remaining.