Tamil Nadu   

Illegal sand mining on Kesathaliar riverbed: residents seek PMK intervention

INTERVENTION SOUGHT: Residents from Thiruvallur meet PMK founder S. Ramadoss at Thailapuram on Friday seeking his intervention to stop illegal sand mining on the Kesathalaiar riverbed.

VILLUPURAM: About 300 residents from Vidaiyur and Kaliyanur in Tiruvallur district met Pattali Makkal Katchi founder S. Ramadoss at Thailapuram on Friday and sought his intervention to stop large-scale illegal sand mining on the Kesathaliar riverbed.

They alleged that those, who opposed the indiscriminate sand mining from the riverbed, were subjected to police harassment. Both the villages form part of the Kadambur panchayat union.

They came to Thailapuram under Vidaiyur panchayat president Tamilselvi Perumal, former chairman of Kadambur panchayat union Vasudevan and councillor Narsenai Sukumar. The residents came by four lorries and half-a-dozen sumos to seek redressal to their grievance.

They told Dr. Ramadoss that, on an average, 1,000 lorry loads of sand were illegally mined from the riverbed a day. Such a wide-scale exploitation was causing serious ecological problems to the villages.

It had affected 25,000 acres of cultivable lands and drastically reduced the ground-water level. Though they had made several representations to the authorities, their pleas did not evince any response.

When the residents tried to block lorries illegally transporting sand, the police started harassing them. They pointed out that when a similar crisis occurred in 1994, Dr. Ramadoss staged a protest in the district and subsequently the situation improved.

However, again the problem had cropped up in a vigorous manner, and hence, the residents appealed to Dr. Ramadoss to arrest the trend. Dr. Ramadoss told them that he would go over to Thiruvallur and organise a stir there on August 20.

Vanniyar Sangham president Guru and organiser of farmers’ wing Sadagopan were present.

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