Huge buildings have been constructed on the premises of PRP Exports
without proper permission from the Local Town Planning Department which
is chaired by the District Collector, investigations by the special
teams formed to probe illegal granite quarrying cases have revealed.

Highly-placed
sources said that the PRP management had raised about 20 buildings,
including the sheds and factories, on an area of 1, 75,000 sq ft on
their premises, while they had obtained permission from the panchayat
board for constructions on only an area of 14,000 sq ft.

“PRP
Exports obtained the panchayat’s approval for constructions on a lesser
area and basic facilities were not provided in them as mandated by the
Town Planning and Factories Act,” said an official.

Meanwhile, the
district administration has sought a report from the Town Planning
Department on PRP Exports . A letter has also been sent to the
management to clarify on the violations in their buildings.

While
police crackdown on granite barons is on, the district administration is
in the process of conducting a survey of granite blocks and identifying
violations with help of various departments and bodies such as the
TNEB, PWD, Factories, Labour, PCB and Forest.

In the course of
action, the Forest Department too had identified violations in PRP.  A
Forest department official said that the firm had not obtained proper
license and permission for the saw mill on their premises.

“The
PRP management had regularly imported wood from New Zealand that is
inserted between polished marbles to prevent  scratches. Though they can
use the wood, they have to obtain  permission to run a wood saw mill on
their premises,” said the  official.

Meanwhile, 20 teams have
started evaluation work at Keelavalavu, where a large number of granite
blocks are said to have been stashed.

Officials on Wednesday found
30 tipper lorries and trucks at a Keelavalavu quarry. Of these, five
did not bear the registration numbers.The Regional Transport Officer (North) was directed to seize the vehicles, sources added.