Most of the quarries are under the control of the state-owned Tamil Nadu Minerals Ltd (TAMIN) and most of TAMIN's quarries are lying unoperated, says Mr N.
And so it goes on, 1,200 years later, the complex working-out of the relationships that we see embodied in Tara, between Sinhalese and Tamil, between Sri Lanka and south India, between Buddhists and Hindus.
The tensions arose as some students marked the death of Tamil Tiger guerillas at small candle-lit memorials while well-produced pro-Tiger posters appeared in various parts of the formerly Tiger-held territory.
The chief minister of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu has suffered cardiac arrest only days after she handed over responsibilities to a deputy because of illness.