Uncertainty over mounds of sand at yard

Sand taken from Palar and other rivers has been dumped at Sankarapuram stockyard near Walajahbad. Photo: D. Gopalakrishnan

Following the one-year-ban on sand quarrying from riverbeds in Kancheepuram district that came into effect on Wednesday, officials are unclear what to do with a large quantity of sand, stocked at the yard at Sankarapuram near Wallajahbad on Kancheepuram-Chengalpattu Road.

When contacted, district-level officials said that they were yet to receive any information on whether or not to allow the sale of the sand. “We expect directions in this regard in a day or two from higher officials in Chennai,” they added.

Meanwhile, welcoming the recent development, the convenor of Palar Pathukaappu Kootiyakkam, Kanchi Amudhan said that the sand quarried from Palar riverbed near Sankarapuram should be deposited in the same places (Thirumukkoodal, Pinayur and other hamlets located along the river) from where it was quarried.

“Those involved in quarrying were in violation of clear rules which stipulate that sand should not be quarried within 500 metres of wells containing drinking water and near irrigation supply channels. It was also in violation of norms relating to depth up to which sand should be quarried ,” he alleged.

Mr. Amudhan said that sand had been quarried at certain places upto a depth of 13 to 15 metres and claimed that the indiscriminate and illegal quarrying of sand from Palar riverbed near Thirumukkoodal had affected the ground water level in the area.

The ground water level had declined beyond 400 feet in the area where more than half-a-dozen water collection wells were sunk in 1976 to cater to the drinking water supply requirements of residential localities in southern outskirts of Chennai, he said.

Reviving the Palar

Though Mr. Amudhan welcomed the ban on quarrying for next 363 days, he stressed the need to initiate steps for reviving the Palar which used to be a perennial water source for this region.

The government should come forward to construct low-level check-dams near irrigation channels branching out from the Palar and at other junctions where its tributaries branch off from, or rejoin the main stream. Apart from this, the release of untreated industrial waste water should be checked.

Meanwhile, two bullock-carts used for quarrying and transporting of sand from Cheyyar river were impounded by the Uthiramerur police on Thursday.