COIMBATORE: Revenue department officials in Coimbatore district seized three trucks illegally transporting bricks from sealed brick kilns in the early hours of Thursday.
The vehicles have been seized and handed over to the Thadagam police.
Activists of the Thadagam Valley Mineral Wealth Protection Committee alerted the Coimbatore district collector and revenue officers about the brick kilns violating the orders of the Madras high court and the district collector.
As many as 186 brick kilns were sealed by an order of the district collector, which was issued based on the Madras high court’s directive to him.
The committee alerted officials that they noticed around 20 trucks carrying bricks passing through the Thadagam and Kovilmedu check post police controls.
The district collector immediately ordered revenue divisional officer North and deputy superintendent of police to start going on rounds to check if bricks were being transported out of sealed kilns.
RDO (North) stopped three trucks stopped bricks and stopped them.
Revenue officials inspected all the sealed brick kilns to check if there were any trucks loaded with bricks.
However, they did not find any.
“The kilns have flouted this order multiple times over the last two and half months by trying to function after nightfall, trying to at least sell and transport out their existing stocks even continuing to dig sand,” said convenor of Thadagam Valley Mineral Wealth Protection Committee, S Ganesh.
Many brick kiln owners have appealed to the court for a stay its order.
They have submitted that many are in deep debt.
They sought permission to sell off their existing stocks of bricks and raw materials.