Illegal sandmining, plotting out of agricultural lands, and allegations of departmental apathy ignited sparks at the farmers grievance meeting here on Thursday.

Allegations against some panchayat presidents abetting transfer of cultivable lands to real estate was brought to the attention of the Collector T.Munusamy. Speaking of increase in the letting of agricultural lands to real estate plots, Kaveri Danapalan, Cauvery Delta Farmers Protection Association called for reining in of illicit transfers. Similar complaints on sand quarrying were raised, and the administration was requested to divert sand quarrying to water bodies that required rehabilitation.

A Public Interest Litigation has been filed at the Madras High Court bench here to curb alleged illegal sand quarrying activities in Karur district.

JOWAI: The District Magistrate, West Jaintia Hills, has prohibited the removal and collection of sand, stones and other illegal activities from the riverbed and river bank of river Myntdu. The order was imposed following collection of stones, sand etc. from the river without permission of the authorities by some private parties.

“The illegal activities of such private parties have badly affected the ecological system and environment of the area,” the prohibitory order stated while adding that order shall remain in force until further orders.

The water has turned black at Areekode and neighbouring places

The water in the Chaliyar at Areekode and neighbouring places has changed its colour, raising concerns of the local people as well as the authorities.
Unlike in the past, the Chaliyar has turned black towards the upstream of the river from the Kavanakkallu regulator-cum-bridge. The change looks acute at Areekode and Moorkkanad.

Industries Minister Anil Joshi today announced that the state government had now allowed some relaxation under the Mining Rules for better access to sand and gravel.

The Tamilaga Vivsayigal and Thozhilalargal Munnetra Iyakkam has appealed to the State government to ban sand quarrying totally between June and January and during the monsoon seasons. During other periods, only dry sand should be quarried, that too only through local panchayats, it pleaded.

In a statement, Marudur M. Shanmugham, founder of the farmer association, said it was because of indiscriminate sand quarrying that the Cauvery had virtually been ravaged.

An acute scarcity of fresh water is staring the district in the face, according to the results of a monthly study conducted by the district groundwater department.

The study, which assessed the water level in 63 observation wells, indicates that the failure of monsoon and overall rainfall deficit has led to an alarming depletion in the groundwater table in the district. V. Prasannan, district officer, Groundwater Department, said over the past month the groundwater table at many points in the district had dropped by more than a metre.

Mumbai: Mining will not be allowed in areas declared as forests, wildlife sanctuaries and buffer zones.

These were among the new rules for mining of minor minerals that were approved by the state cabinet on Wednesday to make mining an ecologically sustainable industry. Now, every district will have to prepare a district mining plan to be monitored by a committee headed by the collector. Mining will be allowed only during the day and to reduce noise, air and water pollution, only scientific excavation will be permitted.

A regional squad of the Revenue Department will conduct intensive checking in various locations of Vadakara taluk following complaints from people’s representatives that illegal mining thrives in t

Maharashtra is one of the first states to have regulated its groundwater resources. However, two decades after it introduced a law banning sinking of private borewells or deeptube wells within 500 metres of a public drinking water source, brazen extraction of water continues, even in the 16 drought-hit districts of the state.

This is reflected in the fact that 195 of the state’s 1,531 watersheds lie critically depleted, according to the state’s Groundwater Surveys and Development Agency (GSDA). Seventy-three of these are ‘overexploited’.