The Karimanal Ghanana Virudha Ekopana Samiti (KGVES) has moved the Supreme Court against mineral sand mining on the Alappuzha coast. The apex court will consider the appeal challenging a Kerala High Court order which dismissed a plea to stop mineral sand mining on the coast, including at Thottappally, on February 13.
At Thottappally, local residents are on the warpath alleging that the State government is engaged in large-scale mineral sand mining at pozhi (sandbar) and the Thottappally fishing harbour in the disguise of flood mitigation in Kuttanad and development of the harbour respectively.
The sand extraction is taking place in an area prone to ‘moderate-to-high’ coastal erosion. Residents fear that the mining would prove detrimental to the people living along the shorelines from Valiazheekal to Punnapra. According to the KGVES, 456 houses had been destroyed in the region in the last five years due to coastal erosion.
“Indiscriminate mining is destroying the coast and resulting in the intrusion of saltwater to low-lying Kuttanad through the Thottappally spillway. It is proving detrimental to paddy cultivation in Kuttanad,” said Suresh Kumar S., chairman, KGVES.
