A Satish

PALAKKAD: Indiscriminate sand mining has been the bane of the Bharathapuzha.

But, now a new trend has been spreading like cancer in the rural areas of Palakkad. The plummeting prices of coconuts and the lucrative returns from illegal sand mining vis-a-vis tapping of coconut palms have seen farmers cut down coconut palms and indulge in sand mining.