Stone quarrying stopped around Karinjeshwar temple in Dakshina Kannada

In view of repeated complaints that stone quarrying is damaging the historic Karinjeshwar temple in Bantwal taluk of Dakshina Kannada, district-in-charge Minister V Sunil Kumar has directed the mining activities be stopped at three places around the temple.

Quarrying, which has been in progress in the area since 2007, was stalled in December last year after the quarry owners failed to pay a fine of Rs 8.12 crore slapped on them for quarrying work in areas out of its limits. Stone quarrying was found to have been done on 3.28 acres beyond the specified limits.

A complaint has also been filed in the court against the owners of the companies, the minister said in a statement.

Official-level discussions are going on to declare the areas surrounding Karinjeshwar temple as a sensitive region based on requests by devotees, he said.

Activists of Hindu Jagarana Vedike (HJV) had recently held protests against the quarrying activities around the temple.