Severe drought conditions have led to drying up of the river

The Bharathapuzha is a trickle. Severe drought conditions and drying up of the river have virtually brought it under the control of the sand-mining lobby. Hundreds of truckloads of sand are collected from the river bed in blatant violation of rules. The authorities have so far failed to initiate any action to stop the indiscriminate mining of sand. A few officials who had sought to take action against the ‘sand mafia’ had been physically attacked. The government took no action to provide protection to them.