The Hindu : Front Page : Move to nationalise sand-mining

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Sunday, Nov 18, 2007
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Move to nationalise sand-mining

T. Ramavarman

Regulation of sand Act to be amended to achieve the objectives

Act has not prevented illegal sand-mining
Government to hold talks with stakeholders

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The State government is considering a proposal to bring the entire sand-mining operations in the State under the public sector.

Revenue Minister K.P. Rajendran told The Hindu here that the proposal was under active consideration and it was expected to achieve a set of multiple objectives, such as making sand available to the public at a reasonable price, checking the operations of the sand mafia and regulating sand-mining in a scientific manner.

He said the Kerala Protection of River Bank and Regulation of Removal of Sand (KPRBRRS) Act 2001 would have to be amended to achieve these objectives. But this would be done only after extensive discussions with all stakeholders, including political parties, people’s representatives, construction workers and representatives of various organisations.

Top officials in the Revenue Department said various sections, including officials, environmentalists and scientists, felt that the Act had not been able to achieve the desired results of scientifically regulating sand-mining operations.

Prior to the enforcement of the Act, sand was sold at the rate of about Rs. 2,000 to Rs 3,000 a load. But, now the prices have skyrocketed to Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 26,000 a load in places such as Thiruvananthapuram, while it is about Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 20,000 in districts such as Thrissur that are close to the riverbanks where sand-mining is being regularly carried out, they said.

Under the provisions of the Act, a district-level expert committee identifies the riverbanks where sand-mining can be carried out. The committee has powers to fix the quantity of sand to be mined in each area and the time span.

The local bodies are the licensing authorities for the sand-mining operations, and the police as well as the Revenue authorities have powers to check any illegal action.

But instead of preventing illegal sand-mining, all these have only led to the forming of a powerful land mafia in the State with many officials of the Revenue and Police departments as well as political leaders forming a nexus. The lobby is not only economically powerful but could also even muster up intense legal backing to avert any decisive action against them

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