Seize 24 tractor-trailers near Mehatpur Hand over their drivers to police Sand was being ferried from Sutlej bed

Says Collector in response to complaints from farmers

At a meeting convened for farmers to air their grievances here on Thursday, Collector Ashish Kumar, who presided over, asked authorities to crack down on those indulging in illegal sand mining. S. Kandasami of Velidupatti, said the illegal activity was going on for the past six months on the riverbed of Vaipar. On 17 acres of patta land, such wrongdoings have been taking place.

Lack of vigil by authorities has helped it prosper

In spite of ban, there is a rampant illegal sand mining in the taluk on the Chitravathi river bed. The taluk has no major water sources, hence, groundwater is precious here. With the increased dependency on groundwater, the water level has depleted and water is not available even at depths of 1,000 ft. As a result, water sources have dried up in the taluk.Besides, rampant sand mining has also affected the groundwater level.

Making an obvious reference to IPS officer Narendra Kumar, who was crushed to death in March while trying to stop a tractor carrying illegally mined stones in Madhya Pradesh, a city court has held

Thirumalairajanar river is being ravaged, exposing the village to vagaries of monsoon

At the stroke of dawn, tractors can be seen along the embankments of the Thirumalairajanar river at Polagam. Here, in Polagam panchayat of Thirumarugal union in Nagapattinam district, illegal mining of sand in the river reigns supreme. Each day, even before the sun ascends the horizon, the bed and banks of this tributary of the Cauvery is slowly and steadily ravaged, exposing the village to the vagaries of the monsoon, which is often accompanied by cyclone.

The Madras High Court on Tuesday upheld a rule in Tamil Nadu Minor Mineral Concession Rules making it mandatory for dealers in river sand to obtain a licence for setting up stockyard. The rule also makes it compulsory for the stockists to obtain the sale slip from the local Deputy Tahsildar.

Dismissing a batch of over 500 writ petitions challenging the newly introduced rule, filed at the principal seat here and the Madurai Bench, the First Bench of Chief Justice M.Y. Eqbal and Justice T.S. Sivagnanam said that Rule 38-C was fully in conformity with the Mines and Minerals

So far as the sand mafia goes in Faridabad and Palwal, popular opinion says law enforcing agencies have proved to be ineffective in countering the mafia.

The district administration’s decision to close down 15 sand mining ghats came as a bolt from the blue for around 5000 sand mining labourers, who are now left in the lurch, struggling every day to

Despite the expiry of its licence, a sand quarry at Natham (near Anbil) continues to haul several loads of sand every day, according to villagers from neighbouring T. Kalvikudi. In order to bring the issue to the attention of district authorities, a group of farmers from the village submitted a petition to the Collector, on Monday.

“Every day, hundreds of sand lorries ply through T. Kalvikudi from the illegal sand quarry at Natham causing great inconvenience to the locals,” said C. Gurusamy, one of the farmers.

The Madras High Court has ordered notice to authorities, including the Public Works Department, to file reply in two weeks on a public interest litigation seeking to restrain them from proceeding with sand mining in Kosasthalai river near Gerugampoondi in Tiruvallur district.

The First Bench of Madras High Court, comprising Chief Justice M.Y. Eqbal and Justice T.S. Sivagnanam, also called for records from the authorities concerned after hearing a submission on a PIL filed by K. Venkatesan, president of the Vilapakkam panchayat.