New norms for sand-mining soon

The State government is all set to pass an ordinance amending the Kerala River Bank Protection and Regulation of Sand-Mining Act, 2001, to bring in more severe punitive measures against illegal sand-miners. "Serial offenders involved in illegal sand-mining will be slapped with punishments including imprisonment and vehicles used for transporting sand will be seized," Revenue Minister K.P. Rajendran told The Hindu. The prevailing provisions of the Act proved inadequate to check the menace, he said.The Minister said that a permanent team comprising officials of the Revenue and Police departments would be formed at the district level under the direct supervision of the District Collectors.The team would be dedicated to the sole job of preventing illegal sand mining.Mr. Rajendran said that once the ongoing sand audit was completed a slew of measures would be adopted to revamp the present system to check illegal sand-mining and conserve the ecologically critical rivers of the State. "Based on a scientific environment study adopted under the sand audit, some of the prevailing sand ghats will be closed down while new ghats will be allotted wherever found necessary," he said.The Minister pointed out that illegal sand-mining could not be completely prevented in the State, as the demand for sand was far in excess of the supply.The State, Mr. Rajendran said, was considering two alternatives to put the economics of demand and supply of sand in order.The Irrigation Department was considering the scope for mining sand silted in the dams in the State as recommended in the budget presented by Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac. The second alternative was to bring in surplus sand from other States. "Already discussions had been held with Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Gujarat could be a major supplier," said Mr. Rajendran. Mr. Rajendran said that auctioning of the seized illegally mined sand would be gradually done away with since the sand mafia itself was found to be its ultimate beneficiary. The system of giving away sand to Nirmithi Kendra at a reasonable price as was being done in the districts of Ernakulam, Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur, and Kollam would soon be made the norm, he said.

The Hindu, 5th May 2009