The State government failed to ensure timely confiscation and disposal of illegally mined river sand, resulting in revenue loss and enabling offenders to evade the law, according to the latest report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India on the general and social sector.
The report tabled in the Assembly last week says District Collectors had failed to take timely action under the Kerala Protection of River Banks and Regulation of Removal of Sand Act, 2001. It notes that the formal procedures for confiscation of vehicles carrying illegally mined sand were delayed by six weeks to as much as five years. The failure of the revenue officials to file written complaints in courts enabled the offenders to escape court proceedings.
The sand was sold at prices less than the Public Works Department rate, resulting in a revenue loss of Rs.1.63 crore, the CAG has revealed. The quantity of sand confiscated was not measured and recorded by the revenue and police officials, raising the possibility of pilferage.
The functioning of river protection squads, which were formed to prevent illegal sand-mining, was not monitored. The CAG’s audit revealed that the squads headed by tahsildars were not formed in Palakkad while in other districts, no records on the squads' performance were maintained. It found that five of the six vehicles bought for the squads were not utilised for the purpose and were allotted to revenue officials for regular duties.
The CAG reported that the mandatory river mapping and sand auditing was carried out only in 20 out of the 44 rivers in the State during the five years from 2008. Sand auditing reports of only four rivers were prepared.
