A Public Interest Litigation has been filed at the Madras High Court bench here to curb alleged illegal sand quarrying activities in Karur district.
The petitioner, P. Ettikan, from Karur, has claimed that the court order prohibiting quarrying of sand for more than five years has not been implemented in Karur district. Illegal sand mining activities in the Cauvery river continues in villages such as Achamapuram and Vadhiyan in Karur district, the petitioner alleged. According to him, one M. Palanisamy from Coimbatore owns the quarrying units and claims to own license to quarry sand.
“When the quarrying has been prohibited by the orders passed by the court, it is not known how license a was issued to him. People who oppose the activity are threatened by Mr. Palanisamy with dire consequences,” Mr. Ettikan told the court through his counsel D. Geetha. He further alleged that the Karur Collector, Executive Engineer of Public Works Department and the Tahsildar in Karur took no steps to curb the alleged illegal activity. The representations made to them were not answered, he claimed.
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A division bench comprising Justices Chitra Venkataraman and S. Vimala have adjourned the case to Thursday.