Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Goondas Act against sand smugglers contemplated

CHENNAI: Public Works Department Minister Durai Murugan on Thursday told the Assembly that the government was considering applying provisions of the Goondas Act against sand smugglers.

Most of the irregularities happened during the second sale. Many unscrupulous elements hired bullock carts to quarry the sand. While the cart owners got a pittance, persons indulging in second sale made huge profits. The government was aware of this and would act against them, the Minister said.

(As of now, there is no serious deterrent for violators, officials said when asked about provisions available now. The truck carrying the illegally mined sand was seized, a fine levied and a case registered under the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code.)

Both inside and outside the House, members complained about uncontrolled sand smuggling in the State. The deputy leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, O. Paneerselvam, alleged that largescale illegal sand mining was going on in Theni and Thirunelveli. The sand had been mined so deep in some sites that no further mining was possible. The smugglers had then moved to other areas. An all-party team should visit the sites and take appropriate steps, he said.

The leader of the Congress party in the Assembly, D. Sudarssanam, said sand sold by the government earlier at Rs.600 a unit was available in Chennai at about Rs.2000. Despite the government rate remaining unchanged, the unit rate in Chennai had shot up to Rs.5000. How could this happen, he wanted to know.

S. Peter Alphonse (Congress) said sand mining was banned in Kerala. Hence, large scale smuggling was taking place across the border. Since sand was not available in unlimited quantity and the State itself had a lot of construction activity, this practice should be ended. There were also allegations that sand was being smuggled to the Maldives, he said.

The Pattali Makkal Katchi president and leader in the House, G.K. Mani, wondered why the price went up so much when so much quarrying was going on. Unlike cement, which had many raw material inputs, sand had none. “I am speaking about this issue with great distress. Sand smuggling was on during the last government and it is continuing unabated now,” he said. John Joseph (CPI-M) said construction works of all government departments had been affected by huge increase in sand price. In his constituency, Vilavancode, sand was being sold at Rs.3500 a unit. He wanted the government to institute an inquiry into the sand smuggling and take over the distribution of sand also.

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