The Madras High Court Bench here on Wednesday questioned why sand quarrying should not be banned from the Cauvery riverbed too on the lines of an order passed by the court on December 2, 2010 banning sand quarrying from the Tamirabarani for five years.
Justices R. Sudhakar and V.M. Velumani raised the query during the hearing on a public interest litigation petition filed by M.C. Sivakumar of Erode district alleging indiscriminate sand mining from nine different quarry sites on the Cauvery riverbed in Karur and Tiruchi districts. Petitioner’s counsel N. Mohideen Basha contested the contents of a status report filed by Karur Collector S. Jayandhi, who had denied allegations of indiscriminate and illegal mining, and claimed that illegal mining was rampant in most of the quarry sites.
Supporting the petitioner’s case, advocate S. Vanchinathan, whom the judges agreed to hear as an amicus curiae, contended that a majority of the sand quarry sites across the State were actually run by “mafia groups” by relegating the Public Works Department to just an official name lending authority.
“The sand mined from Cauvery, Palar and Tamirabarani rivers…was being transported and sold in Kerala for very high prices since the government of Kerala had imposed a total ban on sand quarrying from any of the rivers in that State,” he said.
Advocate T. Lajapathi Roy told the court that a Division Bench of Justices R. Banumathi and S. Nagamuthu had appointed a commission comprising the Court’s Registrar and two geologists from Manonmaniam Sundaranar University and perused its report before banning mining from Tamirabarani.
“A similar Commission could be appointed to inspect the quarry sites on the Cauvery riverbed too and submit a report to this court. Thereafter, this court could take a decision on the issue since the geologists would be the right people to assess the extent of illegal and indiscriminate quarrying,” he said.
Expressing deep anguish over allegations of the mineral wealth being exploited with scant regard to the ill-effects it would create on environment, Mr. Justice Sudhakar doubted if environmental clearance committee had inspected quarry sites on the Cauvery before granting permission for mining. He directed the petitioner’s counsel to examine the issue and report to the court by Tuesday when the court would decide on further course of action.
The sand mined from Cauvery, Palar and Tamirabarani rivers…was being transported and sold in Kerala for very high prices
