With heightened construction activity, there has been a spurt in cases of sand mining, what with the dealers in sand leaving no stone unturned to meet the demand. The irony is that a chunk of the sand is transported to Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, getting ‘prompt clearance’ at the border check posts.
The menace is found in Tirupati, Chandragiri and Srikalahasti constituencies, while it is especially high in the areas abutting Swarnamukhi river that runs south of the temple city. There have been complaints from Durgasamudram, Pydipalli, Chiguruvada, Kuntrapakam, Vedantapuram, Tanapalle, Brahmanapattu, Padipeta villages, all in Tirupati Rural mandal, and in Yerpedu, Gajulamandyam and Srikalahasti areas in the district.
Similar is the case with Kushasthali River in Nagari area.
The fine imposed by Revenue and Geology Departments while seizing the tractors that illegally ferry sand is hardly deterrent and they easily get away by paying the fine. In lands under private possession, they easily lure the farmers with money or coerce them into letting their tractors in.
The blatant violation did not even leave Swami Hathiramji Mutt, a religious body having vast stretches of land in and around Tirupati, as it is patiently waiting for action to be initiated on the miscreants who had entered its mango garden in Pydipalli village last March, excavated sand to a depth of 10 feet and transported the same in tractors.
The complaint made to M.R. Palle police station was against K. Govardhan Reddy, who had litigation with the said land for over 40 years. With the police turning a blind eye, the Mutt had to write to the district Collector for action. “Even today, they are taking away sand in tractors every day,” Arjun Das, the Mahant of the Mutt told The Hindu .
Apart from revenue loss, the rampant excavation of sand is feared to lead to depletion of groundwater and cause irreparable damage to the local ecology.
