While the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court is yet to vacate its stay on sand mining on the riverbeds of the Cauvery and the Coleroon in Tiruchi and Karur districts, revenue officials have busted a network involving former representatives of local bodies in illegal sand mining from closed sand quarries of the PWD in Tiruchi district.
As per a High Court order, the PWD suspended sand quarrying operations from the third week of August, and is awaiting the High Court verdict to resume them. But it was found that sand was being lifted at night from a few quarries on the riverbed of the Cauvery located in the remote areas of Tiruchi district by a group of former members of local bodies.
As per the modus operandi, the network members would “open the sand quarries” in Thottiyam, Musiri and Kattuputhur areas to allow lorries to load sand by collecting an “entry fee” ranging from ₹2,000 to ₹5,000.
“We have found the involvement of various former councillors of village, panchayat unions and town panchayat members in illegal sand mining,” Collector K. Rajamani told The Hindu .
