Over 500 villagers block highway in Sivaganga demanding ban on 100-acre quarry

Over 500 residents from Jeyangondanilai and neighboring villages in Sivaganga district here on Tuesday staged a two-hour road blockade on the Eriyur–Melur highway, demanding an immediate ban on a proposed 100-acre private stone quarry.

Protesters cited devastating environmental degradation and a sharp rise in fatalities among endangered slender lorises as the primary reason for the demonstration.

Preparations to establish the stone quarry in Jeyangondanilai village near Singampunari have severely disrupted local wildlife corridors.

According to the protesters, quarrying activity has driven nocturnal slender lorises out of their natural habitats and into residential areas.

Displaced into nearby trees and streets, over five slender lorises have died within the past month alone due to vehicle accidents and stray dog attacks.

Further, the proposed quarry site directly borders crucial local waterbodies—including Siddhamalli, Nainarkulam, and Attoorani irrigation tanks —putting populations of deer, monitor lizards, and rabbits at severe risk.