A committee of officials constituted by the State government in late March to estimate the stock of beach sand minerals in three southern districts is likely to complete its work by the end of this month.
Headed by Satyabrata Sahoo, an IAS officer, the panel was set up to estimate the stock in Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi and Kanniyakumari districts in the wake of the Madras High Court’s order in January.
It includes officials of Customs and Excise, Atomic Mineral Division and the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, all belonging to the Centre, and those from the State government’s departments of geology and mining, revenue and survey.
Three months time
As the committee has been given three months, the panel has time till July first week. Mr. Sahoo was made the chief of the committee in April after the original candidate Mahesan Natarajan expressed his inability.
“We are trying to complete our work by this month-end,” Mr. Sahoo told The Hindu.
On completion, the panel would submit its report to the High Court.
Another official associated with the team’s work says that the panel will take into account various reports.
Among such reports are the documents produced by the Tirunelveli District Level Committee in November 2016 and February 2017 on violations of certain licensees with regard to the mining and transportation of raw sand and beach sand minerals.
The committee was established in response to an advice of the High Court in March 2015.
Other reports that are expected to be perused by the committee on estimation of stock pertain to those prepared by a special committee headed by Gagandeep Singh Bedi, who was Revenue Secretary in 2013-14, on the position in the three southern districts and one by a joint team of officials of the Centre and State government on the initiative of the Ministry of Environment and Forests in April 2015.
As soon as the controversy over illicit mining of beach sand minerals erupted in August 2013, the State government had imposed a ban on mining and transportation of beach sand minerals.
