Minister TK Prabhu flags vanishing mountains, cracks whip

CHENNAI: Minister for Mines and Minerals TK Prabhu told the Assembly on Tuesday that several mountains and hillocks across the State have disappeared due to excessive and illegal mining over the past decade.

He displayed photographs to highlight the extent of environmental degradation in the State. He alleged that successive governments had failed to prevent such large-scale destruction and said several ancient geological formations had been sacrificed for mining, particularly for M sand production.

According to the minister, Bheemarishi and Konaripalayam in Perambalur district, Sengunam Mountain, Siraiyur and Kondayampatti village hillocks in Madurai district, a 10 metre high rock hillock at Amburpettai in Tirupattur district, Ananthalai Mountain in Ranipet district, two mountains at Muthur in Coimbatore district and Konamalai Mountain in Tenkasi district had disappeared due to excessive mining.

"These mountains were around 3.2 billion years old. But they have now been destroyed," Prabhu said, stressing the geological and ecological significance of the formations.

The minister warned that the government would not spare anyone involved in sand or mineral mining beyond permitted limits, saying stringent action would be taken against those violating prescribed norms.

Replying to PMK MLA A Ganeshkumar during the debate, Prabhu said that discrepancies had emerged between the quantity of minerals reported for revenue purposes and the actual volume extracted. "TAMIN's profit has decreased, but it is not functioning well. During the previous regime, revenue was returned to the Treasury based on 60 lakh metric tonnes, whereas the actual quantity of natural resources mined was six crore metric tonnes," he said.

"Gravel and sand mining irregularities can be hidden once the rains come and fill the mined-out spaces. Still, efforts are under way to conceal the actual quantity mined in some stone quarries by using M-sand. The government will soon monitor everything, and none will be spared," he said.

Prabhu said the government would strengthen monitoring of mining operations and take action against those found violating norms.

He also said discussions were underway at the officials' level with the Centre following Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay's demi-official letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking withdrawal of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026.

The Bill, recently passed by Parliament, seeks to regulate State-level taxation and centralise oversight of mineral-bearing lands, he said.