New carriers of illegally mined river sand

Donkeys are used to transport river sand from the Bhavani

Donkeys carrying sand illegally mined from River Bhavani in Attappady to a secret collection centre. Photo K A Shaji

Donkeys are very popular in the Attappady region of Palakkad. These beasts of burden are the new vehicles of the sand mafia involved in mining sand from the Bhavani and its numerous feeders at Attappady. The sand mafia hires donkeys in large numbers to transport the illegally mined sand to secret collection points.

Owning donkeys has in recent days become a lucrative business here, and people have started buying them from Coimbatore, Tirupur, and Erode districts in Tamil Nadu.

Donkeys carrying synthetic white bags stuffed with river sand can be seen everywhere in Attappady, especially in Agali, Kottathara, Vadakotathara, Thavalam, Chavadiyoor, Naykkarpadi, Kavandikkara, and Methevadakotathara villages.

The overexploitation of the east-flowing Bhavani is fast depleting the natural resources in the region. The sand is even smuggled to Coimbatore to fetch higher prices.

“The degradation of the river has resulted in the water table going down, and farmers have to bear the brunt of this.

Those using donkeys for sand-mining are influential people with strong political support, and they use poor tribal people in their nefarious activities. The owners are never seen, and the tribal people are entrusted with the task of guiding the donkeys,” M. Sukumaran of the Attappady Samrakshana Samithi says.

“The transportation of sand begins after dusk and ends before sunrise. Nearly 250 donkeys are engaged by the local people, and their owners get Rs.250 for a bag containing approximately 100 kg of sand,” says former tribal special officer V. Krishnankutty, who charged over a dozen major cases against illegal sand-miners.

“Animal rights activists must look into the issue,” he says.

Mr. Sukumaran says though many petitions have been sent to the authorities, nothing has been done to bring the culprits to book.

N. Sakthivel, a resident of Kottathara, says sand carried by 15 donkeys in a single trip is equal to that transported by one tipper lorry.

An owner may have eight to 12 donkeys, and a donkey carries 15 bags of sand a day. The maintenance of the donkeys is also less expensive.