Sand quarrying from the Cauvery, which had remained suspended for nearly a fortnight now, resumed in Tiruchi district on Wednesday.
The resumption comes after a Division Bench of the Madras High Court issued an interim order, valid till January 18, permitting the use of a maximum of two excavators in each quarry for sand mining from the rivers, except the Tamirabarani River. The Bench had passed the orders based on a modification petition filed by the State government over an earlier order of the Madurai Bench.
Sand quarrying from the river was suspended in the last week of December after officials of the Public Works Department, citing the directions from the Madurai Bench, barred the use of heavy machines for the purpose. The move had brought quarrying to a complete halt as truckers were not willing to go in for manual loading claiming that it would be very slow. This triggered a severe shortage of sand, bringing to halt construction activity across the district.
Prior to the ban, about 2,500 truck loads of sand were being transported every day from the six quarries that were in operation in the district then.
There was hectic activity on Wednesday as Collector Mahesan Kasirajan, the designated competent authority, issued necessary orders late on Tuesday night.
