PIL seeks direction to submit SIT report on illegal sandmining

: A PIL seeking to direct the Secretary, Revenue department/Head of special team to submit the Special Investigation Team report on illegal sand mining in four districts was filed in Madras High Court bench today.
The PIL was filed by S P Ramachandran, an advocate and Tuticorin district Secretary of Human rights Protection Centre, Tamil Nadu.
The Petitioner also sought an interim direction to the Chief Secretary to release the report pertaining to Tuticorin district submitted by the revenue secretary on September 17, 2013.
Ramachandran submitted that according to former Tuticorin District Collector Ashish Kumar, an expert team had inspected the spot where mining was on and had submitted that a mining firm had illicitly quarried raw sand from Government Poramboke land.

It had also requested Kumar to take action against the firm. It appeared that the firm had indulged inillcit mining of beach minerals to the tune of 85,611cbm.
Besides six advocates also done a field study of coastal hamlets in Tuticorin.The advocates' fact finding team also had filed a report.

While refining the sand the company had allegedly used chemicals affecting the fish,p rawns and crabs in the sea. It also led to problems for humans, including causing cancer and brain related diseases etc.
The Tamil Nadu government on receiving the report formed a special team to also probe the illicit mining in Tirunelveli, Kanyakumari,Tiruchirapalli and Madurai districts.

The team started a field survey in Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari districts in Sept 2013, but the report was not submitted.The government also stopped mining in Kanyakumari, Tiruchirapalli, Tirunelveli and Madurai districts on Sep 17 2013.
The petitioner said the teams completed the probe on mining in all four districts in Nov 2013. It was the duty of the revenue secretary to submit his report. Any delay in submitting it would affect the genuineness of the report.There was apprehension of malpractice also as beach sand mining mafia were influential and powerful.
He said he had given two representation to the government and said illegal sand mining was going on despite ban order, but no action had had been taken so far. Hence this petitoin

Justices V.Ramasubramanian and V.M.Velumani admitted the petition and posted the case for hearing on April 22.