Several villagers complain of respiratory problems caused by the blasting, while Ramjibhai, a school principal, says some five acres of his land was rendered unarable by the settling dust. The authorities are thinking of moving another school out so that it is not affected by the blasting.

Located near Ramjibhai's Uttar Buniyadi Ashramshala, a residential school, are three stone quarries. Regular blasting thrice a day has affected academic work. At least three students have been injured by flying stones.

Ramjibhai said that the asbestos-cement roof of the school had been damaged many times when rock was being blasted at the quarry. ``But asbestos can be replaced. What about the cracks the building has developed? Any day the building may collapse'' he asks.

This three square km area was declared an industrial area about 10 years ago. ``We were promised employment. But what have we got? Pollution and diseases,'' observes Navalbhai Gamit, a local resident.

Some villagers, of course, got jobs in the quarries. But factory laws are hardly ever enforced. Workers rarely get the prescribed minimum wage. And to top it all, the villages are affected by the pollution caused by the dust, and the damage caused by the shock of the blasts.

It is not as if the villagers haven't lodged complaints against quarry owners. They say no action has been taken. ``Initially, the authorities used to respond to our complaint. Now they just don't bother!''says Ranjibhai.

Quarry owners have apparently won over influential villagers and lower-level officials with blandishments to keep them from taking action. A former sarpanch admitted that he was being paid Rs 1,200 monthly by a quarry so that he would not raise the pollution issue.

And quarry owners say that quarrying hardly pollutes the villages. Says Ishwarbhai of Ashram Stone Quarries: ``The villages are not affected as they are three km away from the quarries. There is no question of pollution. Moreover, dust goes up in the sky!''

Mamlatdar V.P. Patel, however, admits that not only villages but the entire Songadh town too is affected. ``The dust is bound to affect people's heath and agriculture. We have been getting complaints. Acting on their complaints we have fixed timing for blasting. And one of the schools will soon be shifted. A new building is being constructed at a safe place,'' says Patel.

However, residents of Kunkwa, Sadar Kuwa, Amlipada, Dowada, Chikli and Vedwan villages, some of the worst-affected villages, have no choice but to live with the smell of blasting powder, the rock dust, the shocks, and the pollution.

Dr Sudhir Shroff, a Songadh-based private practitioner, confirms that the cases of accidents, tuberculosis, respiratory diseases have increased in villages near quarries in the last five year.

And J. Stanny, director of the Legal Aid & Human Rights Centre, which has a branch in Songadh, suggests that a medical survey in all affected villages should be conducted. Workers should also be checked, he says, in order to get an idea of the damage quarrying is causing in the villages.