The district administration has banned sand extraction and movement of mining boats in the 1-km area around Pavoor Uliyakudru island on the Nethravati.
The order, dated November 28, sees the district administration clamp Section 133 of the Code of Criminal Procedure — wherein, the administration can arrest any person breaching the order — around the island.
Additionally, the order bans the setting up docks — from where sand is loaded onto trucks — in the area around the island.
The move comes after a visit by Deputy Commissioner A.B. Ibrahim where residents complain of rampant sand extraction that was bifurcating the island, increasing erosion and affecting fishing around the island. The order is intended to come as a relief to the 58 families, around 200 residents, of the island which can be accessed only by boat.
The district administration notes that the island and its surroundings come under Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ) – I category, and that permission was not accorded to sand extraction within its limits.
Apart from the destruction of the island due to incessant extraction, the order also notes that numerous daily-wage workers who were involved in extraction operations had set up tents illegally on the island and would “steal coconuts and vegetables” from private gardens.
