Banner image: A stone quarry in Mangaluru, Karnataka. Representative image by Ravimum via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Picture of a stone quarry followed by the text: • A new study has found that after the 2016 ban on river sand mining in Kerala, stone quarries have expanded near protected areas in the Western Ghats to extract stone for M-sand production. • The researchers found that some quarries expanded five to tenfold or more during 2011 to 2021. About 17% of this increase took place in 2016. • Besides causing loss of biodiverse habitat, quarrying activity involves loud noises, dust, ground-shaking blasts which could potentially harm the region’s wildlife. • The study recommends that ecologically sensitive zones be designated strictly off-limits for new quarry approvals.

Image of a stone quarry in Malayattoor in Ernakulam district, Kerala. The state’s construction industry reacted to a 2016 ban on river sand mining in six of Kerala’s rivers by switching to manufactured sand (M-sand), artificially made from crushing hard rocks into fine particles. Representative image by Ranjithsiji via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0).

A view of the Western Ghats. Based on data from Kerala’s state mining portal KOMPAS, the researchers identified 355 operational quarries of which 72 quarries fall within the 10-kilometre buffer zone around 20 protected areas in the Western Ghats. Image by Max Martin.

#Quarries devour #BufferForests of #WesternGhats after #SandMiningBan

Post ban— #miners started crushing QuarriedHardRock to produce ManufacturedSand, also known as #Msand

Quarrying activity with its loud noises, dust & #blasts is harming #biodiversity

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