Kerala - Pathanamthitta   

Probe on into forging of sand-mining permits

Radhakrishnan Kuttoor

Stern action sought to save rivers

PATHANAMTHITTA: The recent confiscation of forged sand-mining permits bearing fake seals and signatures of the issuing authorities in the district from lorries seized in Kozhencherry and Ranni has raised the suspicion that powerful lobbies attached to the Revenue Department and local administration have been abetting the so-called sand mafia.

The police said the lorries were laden with river sand illegally quarried from Thottappuzhasserry and Ayroor. The forged permits carried the fake seals and signatures of the Ranni Tahsildar and Vechoochira grama panchayat secretary.

It is alleged that the powerful mafia is exerting political influence to shift police officials who were coming in the way of illegal sand mining and smuggling.

District Collector Ashok Kumar Singh said that the district administration had taken the issue in all its seriousness, and a detailed inquiry into the entire issue was fast progressing.

Samithi plea

The Pampa Parirakshana Samithi (protection committee) has called upon the State Government to initiate effective and stern measures to check illegal mining of river sand on a war footing to save the rivers in the State from further degradation and death.

In a letter to Principal Secretary and Land Revenue Commissioner Niveditha P. Haran, the samithi's general secretary, N.K. Sukumaran Nair, said vehicles and country boats used in violating the rules should be seized, strictly adhering to the Kerala River Bank Protection Act, 2001 and an order of the Kerala High Court in 2005.

He said that under the Act, the Collector could seize the vehicles involved in such crimes, and these were to be returned only if the owners paid the value fixed by the official.

Mr. Nair alleged that some revenue officers fixed the amount even below Rs. 10,000 for a lorry. The District Collectors should be advised to fix a reasonable amount not below Rs. 1 lakh, he added.

He said training sessions for the members of the district-level expert committees, local body authorities and revenue and police officers should be conducted so as to make them fully aware of the grave need to protect the river systems and check anti-river activities without further delay.

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