To ascertain whether sand mining was taking place in Kottakarai river in Ramanathapuram district, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court appointed an advocate commissioner to inspect the region.
Hearing a public interest litigation petition filed in this regard, a Division Bench of Justices N. Kirubakaran and B. Pugalendhi appointed advocate P. Ganapathi Subramanian as the advocate commissioner in the case. The court directed him to inspect the region and file a report after it was alleged that in the name of taking excess sand from a patta land nearby, sand was being excavated from Kottakarai river to a depth of five to ten feet.
The court also directed Special Government Pleader J. Padmavathi Devi to get a report from the district authorities on the number of licences granted for quarrying ‘savudu’ and excess sand in the past five years. The case was adjourned to November 11.
