A perennial nightmare for the residents of the State's coastal belt, that of mineral sand mining, is back again. This time, with a bureaucratic prop. And, the first lot to get the jitters are those living along the shores of Alappuzha, particularly the mineral-rich Thottappally stretch.

It is a series of letters from the Indian Rare Earths (IRE) Limited, Chavara; the Chief Engineer in charge of the Rs.1,840-crore Kuttanad Package, Alappuzha; and then from the office of the Chief Engineer (Irrigation and Administration), Thiruvananthapuram, to the Principal Secretary (Water Resources) that have triggered the tension this time around.