: Cashing in on scarcity and the high price of river sand in the open market, illegal sand-mining gangs have turned their attention to the interior coastal areas of Kozhikode to dig up salty sand and supply it to the construction industry. Though civil engineers attest that sea sand is highly unhealthy for the construction of buildings, the collected stock is distributed among the clients without specifying the source.
Beach areas close to Chorode, Meethalangadi and Azhiyoor have several such mining points now, where the gangs sell the stock at the price of at least Rs.200 a sack. Trenches have been formed in certain stretches of these beach areas due to regular illegal mining.
“The mining activity takes place mostly between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. on almost all days. As all these beaches have direct access to vehicles, they can easily cart away the stock,” said a resident of Vadakara. He claimed that the illegal sand-miners employed workers from outside Kerala to do the job offering heavy payment.
Local informers
According to sources, the sand-miners also maintain a gang of local informers who alert them about the presence of police in the mining and transportation area. “Police patrolling is a futile exercise as the gangs stop all their operations following a signal by their informers,” they reveal.
“Sea sand-mining had been rampant in these areas when the district administration imposed a temporary ban on river sand-mining. Though the trend had been stopped with tight police vigil, it was slowly making a comeback with declining security,” said Ajith Myaliyil, another resident of Vadakara. He also complained that the police have failed to act on the petitions filed by various organisations to prevent the practice.
Meanwhile, police officials from Vadakara claimed there was no laxity on their part in conducting regular patrolling in the area. “Night patrolling had been strengthened in all these areas and the local people can pass the message to the police on noticing illegal mining activity for spot action,” they pointed out.
