Around Chennai, Palar being drained

As industrialisation and real estate development in Tamil Nadu, especially in and around Chennai, have increased rapidly, illegal sand mining from rivers has matched the pace. For an idea of the severity of the plunder, consider the case of the Palar river, which meets Chennai's sand requirements. The river has had no water since 15-20 years, something locals attribute to illegal sand mining.

A broker said sand mined at Palar, about 90 km from Chennai, was priced at about Rs 2,500 a unit. A lorry can carry three-six units of sand, depending on the capacity of the vehicle. The broker said sand transported through bullock carts, while costing half the amount, was only supplied to customers in a radius of about eight km. As in other areas of the state, sand mining was controlled by politicians here, too, the broker said. "It is one of the most profitable businesses. If you invest Rs 1, you will get Rs 10; sometimes, it could be Rs 14-15," he said.

Lorry owners, who transport the sand from a stockyard located close to Palar to various customers, agree. During a 20-minute drive with a driver-cum-lorry owner who is into this business for about two decades now, the modus operandi of the business, as well as its economics, becomes clear.

The lorry owner says the business was all about politics and is controlled by two people-one from Coimbatore and other one from Erode. "Whichever party comes into power controls the business in the state," he said. Another lorry owner said about 2,000 lorries belonging to the Coimbatore-based businessman catered to the Chennai market.

The economics
The first lorry driver says while Rs 675 a unit is paid to the government through a demand draft by the licensed quarry owner, the price at which the sand is sold is about Rs 2,500 a unit-Rs 1,500 goes into bribes, wage costs, transportation costs (from the lakes to the yard, through tractors) and equipment costs. About Rs 1,000 goes to the owner.

On an average, the money the miner makes is Rs 3,000-4,000 per load. "He makes ten times of what he invests. For Chennai alone, 8,000-10,000 lorries have been carrying loads every day," the driver says. The sand is sourced from Pazhayaseevaram, Arcot, Chengalpattu, Periyapalayam, Madhavaram and Velappanchavadi.

Lorry drivers say if legal sanction was provided for five loads, fake passes or bills were prepared for 10 loads, with the same serial numbers.

In May 2012, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had said in the June 2011-May 2012 period, 4,173 cases related to illegal sand mining had been filed and 5,033 people had been arrested; fines worth Rs 14 crore had been imposed. During that period, the state government had earned revenue of Rs 197 crore from the sale of sand.

Inadequate action?
"My government will not allow misuse of river beds; it would deal with an iron hand against whoever is involved in illegal mining of sand," Jayalalithaa had said.

However, despite action by the state government and judiciary, illegal sand mining continues. Among other reasons, this is due to the lack of officials to implement the government and court orders, as well as the muscle power of "sand kings", says the head of a non-governmental organisation fighting against such mining in courts.

On Tuesday, the collector of Tuticorin, a district in south Tamil Nadu, was transferred, hours after he ordered a raid on sand mines in the district. The collector, however, refused to link the transfer with his raid order.

Recently the Madras High Court had ordered the closure of 27 quarries operating for about five years. The state government has appointed a committee to probe sand mining activities. However, an activist says despite these steps, no results have been seen so far.

Now, growing concern on such mining and the increasing cost of sand has led to a few builders using crushed sand obtained from blue metal dust and black granite dust. The industry is still evaluating the possibilities of using this alternative.