The Vellore District Collector has submitted before the Madras High Court that sand quarrying is being done in Palar in Vannivedu village manually. No machinery was involved in mining sand. So far, 2,772 units of sand had been quarried in the area and sold by the PWD.
Also, instructions had been given to the Executive Engineer, PWD, Upper Palar Basin Division, Vellore, to restrict sand quarrying to the area permitted by adhering to all conditions.
The quarrying operations were being done by maintaining a clear 500 metre safety distance from the nearest well in the area.
The district chief’s submission was in response to a writ petition by K.Kumar of Walajahpet. The petitioner sought a direction to the Central and State governments to file a detailed statistical report before the court on the river sand mining in Tamil Nadu. Sand was being mined in Palar at several places, including Perungal Medu, Tiruparkadal, Esaiyanur, Poondi and Vannivedu violating laws and clearance orders.
Following this, the court had ordered notice.
When the matter came up before the First Bench comprising the Chief Justice S.K.Kaul and Justice M.M.Sundresh, the Vellore Collector, R.Nandagopal, filed a report through the Government Pleader, S.T.S.Moorthy. He said the Vannivedu panchayat had adopted a resolution on May 19 last year for commencing sand quarrying in the village to fulfil sand requirement for construction activities.
