The Hindu : Sriperumbudur tank falls prey to sand quarrying

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Oct 21, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Tamil Nadu-Chennai

Sriperumbudur tank falls prey to sand quarrying

By K. Manikandan

CHENNAI OCT. 20 . The Sriperumbudur tank, situated at about 40 km from Chennai, is the latest victim of illegal sand quarrying.

Miners, who faced stiff opposition in other suburbs, have been helping themselves to sand from this tank that serves as a feeder to the Chembarampakkam tank, which in turn supplements the city water supply.

The Sriperumbudur tank covers 576 hectares and when filled, can irrigate several hundred acres of fields nearby. However, owing to poor rainfall, the tank is almost dry. A small quantity of water is barely sufficient for only cattle to quench their thirst. Sand mining is going on in an organised manner, especially in the past few weeks.

Mining is bound to have an impact on the water supply to the city in the long run, say experts. It has been argued that sand mining results in poor flow of water apart from deterioration in the water retention capacity of the soil. It is feared that continued mining in the tank would have a disastrous impact, as inflows into the Chembarampakkam tank too would be affected, threatening water supply to Chennai.

Sand was being transported in tractors and bullock carts and digging was done through conventional methods. When contacted, the Mines Department officials at Kancheepuram said mining from Sriperumbudur tank was not permitted and claimed that they were unaware of the problem even as they assured that steps would be taken to put an end to the menace.

Officials of the district administration said they had come out with a new scheme permitting sand mining from select tanks in the district. A sum of Rs. 80 should be paid to the local bodies for every load of sand mined. Apart from desilting of the lake, the new scheme would help in generation of income to the local bodies. Officials said the Senthamangalam village panchayat in the Sriperumbudur union was able to generate Rs. 15 lakhs by way of giving permits for mining of sand.

There has been all-round criticism of the indiscriminate mining of sand from the rivers left bone dry all across the State, be it the Palar, the Tamaraparani or even the Cauvery. A steep dip in the ground water level resulting in a decline of crop yield has also been attributed to this unchecked operation.

Local residents hoped the Government would wake up to prevent yet another water resource from being plundered. In the case of the Sriperumbudur tank, quarry operators have begun to arrive here as they face stiff opposition from local residents in the other permitted quarries.

It may be recalled that a public hearing on the impact of sand mining was organised by the Campaign for the Protection of Water Resources in February this year. The report concludes that all forms of sand mining violated the regulations of the Tamil Nadu Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 1959 and the Mines and Minerals (Regulation and Development) Act 1957 apart from resulting in destruction of the local habitat.

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