Politicians, officials help sand smuggling, allege lorry owners

The members alleged that the owners of such unregistered lorries were getting sand from the depots without any hassle because of their proximity with political bigwigs and if questioned they threaten the registered lorry owners with dire consequences. Even revenue officials were working hand in glove with them, the associations charged.

Sources said that even after the government took over sand mining, plundering continued unabated in rivers like Cauvery, Palar and others. At several points, people residing on banks have strongly opposed the illegal mining and have also alerted the revenue officials about the shady activities.

Speaking to DT Next, S Yuvaraj, president of Tamil Nadu Lorry Owners Federation, stressed that government should take steps to monitor the rivers round the clock. “Illegal sand mining takes place with the help of government officials and politicians. So, the government should appoint a separate committee to check this practice,” he said and warned that if such malpractice continued, the state would witness acute scarcity of sand.

He also claimed that the associations would take the issue to the court for remedy.

When contacted, a special officer of the sand mining wing said that they would look into the issue.

“Stern action will be taken against those revenue officials, who work in favour of politicians. We will soon set up a contact centre in Chennai to watch activities in main rivers and sand depots,” the official said.

The PWD officials have so far opened seven sand depots across the state and they are in the process of identifying two more places to open sand depots by July.