4,000 bags of sand seized

The sand bags found near Paramathivelur in Salem on Tuesday.

The officials of the Mines Department seized more than 4,000 bags of sand dumped on the River Cauvery bed near Paramathivelur on Monday.

There were complaints about illegal mining of sand from River Cauvery in villages around Paramathivelur for quite some time.

On a tip-off, officials of Mines Department led by Jayanthi, additional director, and the police conducted checks in Ponmalarpalayam, Konthalam, S. K. Mettur, and other villages on Monday.

They found the sand bags meant for transportation on two-wheelers.

Some of the persons managed to escape under the cover of darkness.

The residents of the villages around Paramathivelur had submitted a petition to the revenue authorities at the weekly public grievances redress meeting on Monday demanding that steps be taken to end illegal sand mining.

The petition alleged that some were indulging in the illegal mining of river sand during the night hours too for the last couple of years. Those who questioned their activities were being threatened of dire consequences.