In Tamil Nadu, yet another sand storm

Madras HC orders State to ensure sand sale only with approved building plan; TN govt rolls out SOP; illegal sand mining rampant, ED conducts searches, freezes ₹12.82 cr in cash, seizes ₹2.33 cr in unaccounted-for cash, 1024.6 gms of gold; TN police have little info on ED op; 2012 team found 90,29,838 metric tonnes of illicit mining in Tirunelveli, 54,446 metric tonnes in Kanniyakumari; lorry owners' assns flag irregularities, demand 100% online sales.

On March 17, 2021, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court passed an order directing the State authorities to ensure that river sand for construction purposes was supplied only when the buyer produced an approved building plan. The court issued the guidelines while disposing of a couple of writ petitions accusing officials of colluding with lorry owners in the sale of sand and seeking directions to enable members of the public to buy sand through the Tamil Nadu Sand Web Service Portal.

Acting on this directive, the Tamil Nadu government passed an order months later, rolling out a Standard Operating Procedure for the sale of river sand. The order said the cost of sand at the river bed or at a sand quarry would be ₹1,000 per unit. It was made clear that to buy sand, the purchaser would have to make an online booking by uploading the building plan approval. Customers were given the option of remitting cash at bank counters that were proposed to be established at stockyards or depots.

All sand quarries and stockyards, managed by the Water Resources Department (WRD), would be monitored through CCTV cameras with 24/7 live streaming and all shunting vehicles would be monitored real time with the GPS and prefixed geofence to prevent pilferage. A centralised control room would be established to monitor sand mining and sale throughout the State, the order said. The order was followed closely by a press statement from Minister for Water Resources M. Duraimurugan. He said members of the public could buy sand online from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and the quantum of sand left thereafter would be made available to lorry owners from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

This being the background, allegations of illegal sand mining and sale by private persons emerged in several districts. The police registered cases in the recent past. The gravity of the problem came to the fore when Village Administrative Officer (VAO) Lourdhu Francis was hacked to death on April 25 this year at his office at Morappanadu in Thoothukudi district allegedly by members of a sand mafia. It was reported that the VAO had resisted illegal sand mining from the Tamirabarani riverbed, thus incurring the ire of sand-smugglers. Chief Minister M.K. Stalin announced ₹1 crore in solatium to the victim’s family. Two accused persons, arrested for the murder, were sentenced to life imprisonment by a court early this month.

There were a few more cases of officials being attacked or abused by sand mafia when they attempted to stop the illegal activity. First Information Reports have been registered in many districts on complaints filed by officials of the Department of Geology and Mining and private persons about illegal sand mining.

This was the very reason cited by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) which conducted simultaneous searches at multiple locations in six districts on September 12. The Central agency claimed to have unearthed incriminating documents, including fake bills and counterfeit QR codes, which also point to GST losses to the Central and State governments.

The searches lasted over two days at sand-quarrying sites, stockyards, the residential and business premises of various persons, including S. Ramachandran, K. Rathinam, Karikalan and their accomplices, auditor P. Shanmugaraj and officials of the WRD.