The Hindu : Plundering Kuzhithurai river for cross-border lure

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Apr 24, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Tamil Nadu

Plundering Kuzhithurai river for cross-border lure

By J.V. Siva Prasanna Kumar

NAGERCOIL APRIL 23. Illegal mining of sand on the banks of the Kuzhithurai river in Kanyakumari district continues to be a thriving business more due to the `Kerala pull', than anything else. This despite repated joint raids by revenue and police personnel confiscation of vehicles and levying of a huge penalty.

Thanks to Kanyakumari being a border district, in close proximity to Kerala, the smugglers find it easy to run at least a dozen trips a day. Twenty seven of the lorries involved in the clandestine nocturnal operations bear Kerala registration numbers. On an average, a profit of up to Rs. 6,000 could be earned per trip made to Kerala.

The illegal mining led to the collapse of infiltration wells sunk on the Kuzhithurai riverbed and jeopardised a drinking water scheme for Kuzhithurai town and surrounding areas. A railway overbridge is in a precarious position as mining has weakened the structure. Thichkurichy, Vellancode, Pacode, Pinekulam and certain pockets in Vilavancode taluk are green areas for illegal lifting of sand.

The operation is carried out systematically and sometimes the gangsters, instead of targeting the riverbeds, remove sand from coconut plantations or houses abutting the river without owner concurrence. In the Pudukadai police limits, for instance, an owner alleged intimidation by the gangsters when he made a vain bid to prevent removal of sand from his backyard. Recently, the Vilavancode tahsildar's jeep was knocked from behind by a sand-smuggling lorry when he gave a chase. The official, however, escaped unhurt. The former revenue divisional officer of Padmanbhapuram, Ramachandran, even encountered a threat to his life when he seized lorries, but timely intervention by the Collector, Gangandeep Singh Bedi, averted a tragedy. Mr. Bedi acted swiftly, not only providing round-the-clock police security, including an armed guard, to the RDO, but also made it mandatory for the police to participate in raids carried out by the revenue officials. The present RDO, Lakshmanan, too is provided with police security.

Unfazed by the threat posed to their lives, the officials seized 900 lorries.

According to Mr. Bedi, he ordered collection of Rs. 25,000 as fine per vehicle seized and in the last one and a half years the authorities had collected Rs. 1.01 crores. Besides 45 boats engaged to scoop wet sand were destroyed. He moved regional transport authorities and had the permits of 14 lorries cancelled and issued show-cause to 26 lorryowners. Mr. Bedi even declared the Kuzhithurai river a non-fishing region and made licence obligatory for boats ferrying people.

For all the efforts, the sand smuggling operations resume after a lull, whenever raids are launched. According to T. Mano Thangaraj, district panchayat council chairman, the illegal sandmining thrived with police mafia nexus. Without the knowledge of senior officials, police officials on the lower rungs colluded with the gangsters, he alleged.

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Plundering Kuzhithurai river for cross-border lure