Illegal Quarrying: Former TDP MLC Gundumala Thippeswamy Fails To Pay Rs 30 Crore Fine

ANANTAPUR: Irregularities committed by TDP AP vice-president and former MLC Gundumala Thippeswamy over the management of 18 quarries in the district and failure to pay Rs 30 Crore fine has come to the fore recently. Andhra Pradesh Minister of State for Panchayati Raj and Mines Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy has taken a serious note over the matter.  It is alleged that the TDP leader was operating 18 quarries against the regulations, was extracting large quantities of granite and road metal without paying any royalties to the State government.

Assistant Director of the Department of Mines Balaji Nayak and others officials have conducted extensive inspections over the irregularities and submitted a report. After the raids, these 18 quarries were closed. Authorities had earlier fined the quarry owners an amount of  Rs 30 Crore for illegally ferrying granite and road metal beyond the stipulated limits in the license.

On Saturday, Balaji Nayak confirmed that as they had failed to pay the fine amount within the specified time, and the quarries had been closed. He said that they had also written a letter to the APSPDCL CMD and SE requesting them to suspend power supply to the metal quarry at U. Rangapuram in Madakasira. He explained that the quarries were under strict surveillance to prevent illegal mining.

Madakashira is the nearest constituency to Karnataka and there is rampant excavation and illegal ferrying of valuable ores and granite without any permits to the Karnataka region There are over 40 granite and road metal quarries in the Madakashira constituency. More than 25 of these are under the names of Gundumala Thippeswamy relatives who indulge in illegal excavation of granite without paying royalties to the State Government. Excavations were said to be carried out in non-leased areas also.

Gundumala Thippeswamy brothers Gundumala Chandrappa, Sivanandappa, and Radhakrishna leased four granite quarries in 2012 in Jadarahalli village in Madakashira mandal. They have been excavating without any permits and moving valuable granite blocks to the state of Karnataka in collusion with officials when he was an MLC during the TDP regime. Although they were to pay royalties of up to Rs 1,600 per cubic meter for colored granite, they have ferried thousands of cubic meters of granite blocks without paying any royalty for many years.

Complaints were received about these quarries in the past and the State mining officials inspected these quarries and conducted raids. However, due to the lack of compliance with the permits taken, the quantity of granite mined, officials undertook measurements in the quarries. After verification, it was seen that illegal excavations were carried out and they levied fines to an extent of Rs 2 Crore per mine. Despite being fined they continued their illegal operations.

Also Read: JC Diwakar Reddy Slapped Rs 100 Crore Fine For Illegal Mining Of Limestone