Illegal sand mining in Tamil Nadu to be probed

The Tamil Nadu government Friday ordered a halt to beach sand mining in Tuticorn district and constituted a special team to probe illegal mining.

The special team headed by Gagandeep Singh Bedi, secretary, Department of Revenue, will submit its report in a month. Other members of the team will be from the Department of Revenue and Department of Environment and Forests, Geology and Mining.

The team will inspect mining of all the leased areas of in Tuticorin district.

"The commissioner of geology and mining has recommended that till the completion of the probe, mining operations in respect of these leases may be directed to be stopped to facilitate inspections," the government order states.

The government's decision comes after Tuticorin District Collector Ashish Kumar sent a report to the government Aug 6 saying that large scale illicit beach sand mining had been detected in the district.

The report also recommended detailed field inspections by a special team comprising officials from the departments of revenue, police, environment and forests, geology and mining to be undertaken.

Incidentally, Kumar was transferred and posted as deputy secretary of Social Welfare and Nutritious Meals Department and M. Ravikumar, district collector, Ariyalur, will replace him at Tuticorin.

Officials of Tuticorin district administration inspected the sand quarries in Vaippar and Vembar villages in the district Tuesday on complaints that a mining company with a permission to mine in four hectares has been mining in 30 hectares.

"On the basis of complaints from the fishing community, we inspected the mining areas in Vaippar village. The leasee has been given permission to mine in four hectares. We found the mining was being done in 30 hectares," Kumar told IANS.

"Around 230,000 tonnes of beach sand minerals have been quarried in Vaippar village without permission from the government. We have sent the report to the government and action will be taken," he said.

"We have not quantified the quantum of loss to the government," he added

"The special team should not just look at the three beach sand minerals garnet, ilmenite and rutile but at the entire placer sands that include atomic minerals like monazite," S. Kalyanaraman, retired executive of Asian Development Bank (ADB) and an activist told IANS

"The appointment of a special team is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. This is only the end of the beginning," V. Sundaram, a retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer told IANS.

He congratulated Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa for stopping illegal mining of precious minerals.

He said illegal mining of beach sand minerals like monazite containing thorium was brought to the notice of the Tamil Nadu government last January.