There are no river sand quarries employing machines in the State since April 28, according to the Public Works Department.
Till that date, 20 quarries were in operation. Of them, nine had to be closed down due to an order of the Madras High Court, as they had violated norms laid down by the State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA).
As the PWD felt that it could not match the demand for river sand with 11 quarries, it decided to close down the remaining quarries and go to the SEIAA for a fresh approval for more quarries, explains a senior official.
Besides, in nine quarries, quarrying is done manually and transportation of river sand is done through carts. Till the middle of 2016, as many as 61 quarries were functioning. As the validity of approvals, prescribing quantity of sand to be extracted and the time frame, lapsed, more and more quarries had to be closed down.
The situation got complicated as the post of chairman of the SEIAA remained vacant for four months.
New chief
The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change appointed former officer of the Indian Forest Service, N. Krishna Kumar, as the new chairman.
Members of the Tamil Nadu Sand Lorry Owners Association plan to represent the issues to Governor Ch.Vidyasagar Rao. Association president R.Muniratnam said nearly 3 lakh labourers in sand transportation and 15 lakh construction workers have been affected.
