By Jeevan Mathew Kurian, IANS
Kozhikode : The dwindling supply of clay in Kerala is pushing its tile industry, which employs more than 100,000 people, into a deep crisis.
Skyrocketing land prices following a real estate boom in Kerala is one of the reasons affecting clay supply. People are now unwilling to give land for mining clay.
“If you reclaim a paddy field and construct a building, you can make a substantial amount by selling the plot. If you allow clay mining, it will be a problem to level the field again for construction purposes. Therefore, it is hard to get land for mining,” says M.A. Abdurahiman, president of the Calicut Tiles Manufactures’ Association.
The Kerala Land Utilisation Act enacted years ago does not allow the mining of clay as such in paddy fields, the main source of clay. The practice is to sanction temporary permission to mine clay.
The labour-intensive industry is about 150 years old in Kerala. Most of the industrial units in the state are concentrated in the three districts of Kozhikode, Thrissur and Kollam.
Despite their being around for so long, the government has no institutional arrangements to make clay available to these units.
The industry now feels that the greatest threat to the sector comes from the proposed Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Bill, 2007. The bill, if it becomes law in the present form, may sound the death knell for the industry.
The bill has stringent provisions that will prevent mining in paddy fields.
“We have proposed certain amendments in the bill. If these are not incorporated, we will be forced to close down the units,” said Anantha Subramanya Iyer, president of the All Kerala Tile Manufactures’ Association.
“The bill is expected to become law in March,” said Iyer, who is also a managing partner of the Kalyan Tile Company in Amballur in Thrissur district.
The district has around 235 tile manufacturing units, which provide jobs to around 30,000 people.
According to Abdurahiman, the shortage of clay can be solved if the government allows mining in the area identified as clay bearing by the Geology and Mining Department.
He is however not sure whether the government will accept the proposal.
Compared with Kerala, the industry in neighbouring states is getting good support from the respective state governments.
In Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, no royalty needs to be paid for mining clay. In Karnataka, the government is also providing land free of cost for mining, said Abdurahiman.
“Eight years ago, Kozhikode had 16 functioning tile companies. The number has come down to eight. Production, which was at 300,000 pieces of roof tiles a day, now stands at 100,000,” Abdurahiman pointed out.
A decade ago, it was the falling demand for tiles that made things tough for the industry. Now, it is shortage of clay that is posing the threat.
“A decade ago, it was the widespread use of concrete for construction that made the survival of the industry difficult, as demand for roof tiles fell drastically. Demand was revived as people started putting tiles over concrete roofs to prevent water seepage and as insulation against heat. But now shortage of clay is posing a serious threat,” he said.