Tamil Nadu government has issued a lookout notice against Union Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister M.K. Alagiri's son Durai Dayanidhi Alagiri for his alleged involvement in the multi-crore granite mining scam.

But the state opposed a bunch of petitions in the Madras High Court seeking a CBI probe into the illegal granite quarrying in Madurai district. Advocate General Navaneetha Krishnan told the bench on Friday the government would nab the culprits behind the illegal quarrying and was not protecting anybody.

Extraction of sand, bajri beneath bridges, culverts banned

JAMMU: The State Pollution Control Board (PCB) has issued orders for closure of B N Stone crusher at village Thathar, Bantalab as the same was located near residential area and adding pollution to the air and noise pollution in the area. The order regarding the closure of stone crusher was issued by Chairman Pollution Control Board, Lal Chand on the basis of public complaints. Mr Chand said that Board will take strict action and will not allow functioning of any stone crusher adjacent to residential areas threatening the environment and causing noise and air pollution.

A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Wednesday observed that a clear audit should be done on the effect and impact of mining activities on the environment so that mishaps and natural calamities of larger order could be prevented.

A Bench comprising Justice Thottathil B. Radhakrishnan and Justice C.T. Ravikumar observed that unscientific mining was creating impacts on environment. The court said that the geo-physical challenges posed to the terrains even on the onset of the monsoon would have to be treated as an eye opener.

While there is so much of brouhaha over sand quarrying, “there is quite a lot sand available untapped in the water spread area of Mettur Dam,” says N. Natarajan, former Superintending Engineer, Public Works Department, and author of two books on the Cauvery. This would enormously benefit the dam itself, he asserts.

“The difference between removing sand from the river and the water spread area is that the holding capacity of the river would be lost once sand is removed from the river. One cubic foot of sand can hold three cubic feet of water. But when sand and silt are removed from the water spread area, more water could be accommodated,,” he explains. Mettur Dam has a water spread area of about 153 sq km.

Chandigarh: With the Punjab and Haryana High Court banning sand mining in 241 quarries of less than five hectares across the state, the prices of minor minerals have rocketed.

In the grievance meet held here on Friday, Collector Ajay Yadav assured farmers that polluting units that do not conform to Zero Liquidity Discharge norms would be shut down.

Addressing farmers’ grievances, he said, “We will take measures to close down the factories discharging effluents into Palar and not complying with zero liquid discharge. I have discussed this with the chairman of Pollution Control Board.”

Ashtamudi Lake was declared a wetland of global import 10 years ago

On August 19, 2012, it will be 10 years since the brackish water Ashtamudi Lake with eight creeks was declared a Ramsar site by designating it as a wetland of international importance. The lake was recommended by the Ramsar Convention’s partner organisations as a wetland of 61.4 sq km. And the lake entered the Ramsar list as site number 1,204.

More than 5-year-old quarries banned in some districts

It may take a few months for authorities to open new sand quarries on the Cauvery-Coleroon river basin in the wake of the recent order of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court. One of the decisions taken at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Saturday was that sites for new quarries should be identified and approval from the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) secured.

Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee has alleged that the illegal mining business in the state is still going on and the mining mafia has got the patronage of the influential persons in the ruling par

All seven functioning quarries ordered to be closed in Karur district

Sand quarries in the river Cauvery that are more than five years old have remained shut since Saturday following the Madras High Court directive. Through Friday night, vehicles awaiting their turn to load sand were hurriedly cleared and excavators at the quarries withdrawn on orders from PWD officials. Field officials visited the quarries on Saturday and erected road blocks and dug trenches across the entrance to prevent truck movement.