he ban on sand quarrying activity in all riverbeds in Kancheepuram district, which was to last till November 12, 2015, has been extended for another three years from November 13.
Disclosing this in a press release issued on August 18, district collector V.K. Shanmugam has said that the ban period has been extended based on a direction from the State Government with an objective to protect groundwater resources.
Initially, the State government had issued a direction on November 13, 2013 to the district administration to announce that sand quarrying from riverbeds in Kancheepuram district would be banned for one year.
It was extended for another 12 months from November 12, 2014 after the lapse of the first ban order period.
This time, with another 3 months of the current ban period still to go, the State government, through a DO letter, directed the district administration to declare that the quarrying of sand from all riverbeds, including the Palar, would remain banned for another three years from November 13, 2015 with an aim to protect the groundwater table in the Palar river basin.
The decision to impose the ban on sand quarrying activity in the riverbeds was reportedly taken by the government following the severe censure it received from the judiciary in 2013, when the court’s attention was brought to the illegal hoarding of river sand at the second sales points at Sankarapuram near Pazhayaseevaram and Kallapiranpuram near Padalam in Kancheepuram district.
In 2013, the ban was first announced for a one-year period. Subsequently, it was extended for 12 more months a year later
