Two days after Industries Minister E P Jayarajan said that it was tsunami and not mining that had devastated Alappad, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan conceded that mining had indeed caused problems for the coastal panchayat in Kollam.
The chief minister's intervention came during a high-level meeting of elected representatives and officials here on Wednesday.
During the meeting, the government shed its uncompromising stand and met the preconditions set by the agitators half way.
It rejected the agitators' demand for a cessation of all mining activities in the area, but ordered that sea wash mining be put on hold till a scientific study is carried out.
Karunagapally MLA R Ramachandran also took the stand that scientific mining activities, other than sea wash excavation, should not be stopped.
This softened stance will enable the agitators to hold talks with the government delegation led by industries minister E P Jayarajan on January 17.
Both India Rare Earths Limited and Kerala Minerals and Metals Limited had been consistently saying that sea wash mining was done in the most scientific manner.
Sea wash mining has been going on in the area even before 1963, when the IRE began operations in the area.
The Assembly Committee on Environment, after visiting the village in December 2017, had also called for a six-month break in between sea wash mining activities, or the excavation of minerals deposited on the beach by the sea waves.
IRE officials state that the mining plan for collecting beach wash mineral sand per annum has been approved by Indian Bureau of Mines and Atomic Mineral Directorate.
The company also stated that the sea wash collection was being done only at a small portion, while the rest of the area had sea wall protection.
Two more decisions that would encourage the agitators to hold talks with the government were also taken at the high-level meeting.
An expert committee would be set up to study the impact of mining in the area. The committee will probe the damage done to the environment and livelihood of locals.
A monitoring committee chaired by the district collector will be set up to supervise mining activities in the area. The committee will have as its members government officials, environmentalists, subject experts, and people's representatives.
Incidentally, both the measures were recommended in the report of the Assembly Committee tabled in the House in February 2018.
