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Tamil Nadu
By K. Ramachandran
The leader of a group, which used to operate in the Red Hills area here and which now claims to have taken to supply of materials, alleges that illegal quarrying is going on only with official connivance. "A parallel machinery sustained by slush money and aided by mobile telephone technology operates in remote villages". A materials supplier at Red Hills says: "There is a huge demand for sand, available in plenty. The fact that no official quarry auction has taken place is immaterial. People take the risk, as there are obliging villages and village heads to cooperate. Official interference is taken care of". A real estate contractor, Raj, who does business at Karanodai and nearby Padiyanallur and Sholavaram, adds: "Several construction works and massive road projects are going on in our district. These require huge quantities of sand. When there is no legal quarrying, how are the works going on", he asks. Quarry operators, insiders say, spend up to Rs. 3 crores to get a legal lease. "But there are always groups in villagers which demand their pound of flesh to let trucks in. At Guruvoyal, a licensee spent Rs. 47 lakhs to appease the villagers. The operators are given 500 coupons each for Rs. 140 by the Mines Directorate— one for every truckload of sand dug out. Whether an operator does quarrying or not, he has to buy the 500 coupons". Now that there are no auctions, "can the families which depend on the trucks and loading operations starve", ask former licensees. So illegal operations thrive, despite the risk. If a truck is seized by revenue officials, its owner pays Rs. 25,600 as fine and the truck gets impounded for 15 days; consequently, the dependents are robbed of their livelihood. Any truck involved in the offence for over three times loses its permit. So, several truck owners choose to pay a "mamool" and get away. Of 256 trucks engaged in sand quarrying, at least 200 operate everyday in illegal quarries, paying a `speed money' of up to Rs.2,000 a month per vehicle. A Sholavaram councillor says that while estimates are prepared for development schemes, the district administration says sand and brick should be procured locally to reduce cost. But it books sand quarry operators under the Goondas Act. He suspects the hand of local revenue department staff in delaying auctions. On opposition from villagers, the quarry operators say no one enters a village without local support. In the Periyapalayam area, villagers have successfully resisted quarrying in the Araniar river, they add. The operators want the district administration to auction dry lakebeds for sand quarrying. This will help to desilt the lakes, generate employment for local youth and bring good revenue for the Government. As the revenue staff are not able to handle sand quarrying, former licensees want the job handed over to the Public Works department. Enquiries with the district administration show that three new places have been identified for auction, which would be "held soon".
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