Kerala - Kollam   

`It is sand harvesting, not mining at Chavara'

Staff Reporter

KOLLAM: Director of the Mining and Geology Department N. Krishnakumar has said that the process of removing mineral rich sand from the 22-km stretch from Chavara to Kayamkulam is not mining but "sand harvesting."

In a paper on `Mineral sand deposits, mining issues and value added potential,' presented at a seminar on `Natural disasters at coastal areas' organised by Kerala Minerals and Metals Limited here on Friday, he said as the mineral rich sand from the beach was "harvested," the sea kept on depositing the same quality sand.

He said that by harvesting the sand, space for the sea to bring in more deposits was created.

As the sand was harvested, the waves brought in more of it. Hence any environmental issue arising from this has to be seen in a different perspective, he said.

Mr. Krishnakumar, however, said that at locations where excess sand was harvested with the use of machines such as earth movers, it was found that the sea failed to bring in fresh deposits of the same quality. So, if harvesting is done in a judicious manner, an area could continue to be harvested for a long period. It will also not affect the livelihood of the fishing community.

He said harvesting only created minor environmental problems. Exploiting the mineral rich sand meant employment opportunities and development.

While it was more than 75 years since mineral sand started to be mined, the nation started producing titanium dioxide only 50 years ago and synthetic rutile 25 years ago.

"We are yet to produce titanium metal," he said.

The deposits on the 22-km coastline are estimated at Rs.66,740 crores and if fully utilised, they can bring an income of Rs.46,400 crores by way of taxes to the State exchequer.

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