2-in-1: Madras HC orders closure of sand, granite quarries

Drawing inspiration from iconic Tamil literary works like ‘Tirukkural’ and ‘Purananooru’, in a meticulously drawn judgment, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Wednesday directed the state government to close all existing sand quarries in the state within six months and not open any new ones. Words from the poetical works were quoted by Judge Mahadevan to reiterate the importance of nature.

The court also directed other quarries such as granite and minerals, except Blue Metal, to be closed down. Though a six-month time was given for the closures the bench said that granite and mineral quarries should be shut down in a periodical manner.

Though the petition was primarily filed seeking direction to release Malaysian imported sand that was withheld at VOC Port in Thoothukudi, the course of the case took a deeper turn in which the counsel representing the petitioner argued that the sand was imported primarily to save the natural resources of the state.

The Judge held on to the valid argument and in his verdict, for which he took 14 days, he had drawn comparisons from various countries and had quoted both scientific and literary facts to support his verdict.

Mahadevan began his verdict by quoting words from renowned scientist Stephen Hawking, “The planet Earth will become a sizzling fireball in less than 600 years due to indiscriminate swindling of natural resources”. He went on to say that sand had become a rare mineral due to extensive mining because of which environment and agriculture were affected.

He also quoted the ‘Doctrine of Public Trust, in which the Supreme Court had taken observations of the SC in California which had stated that there is judicial concern in protecting the ecologically important lands, including fresh water. The judge also came down heavily on the state government by observing that Tamil Nadu was once an agriculturally rich state but now it depends on its neighbouring state for water. Though there is significant rain, no steps have been taken by the State to save water.

He went on to observe that the importance of preserving environment dates back to the Sangam era where kings would give due importance to preserve the environment. King Karikala Cholan had constructed Kallanai across River Cauvery which stands even today, the Judge observed.