division bench of Justices M Sathyanarayanan and P Rajamanickam observed that the government had stated that taluk and district-level task force was keeping a ‘vulture’s eye’. Had the task force done its work diligently, the excessive sand mining could have been prevented. The judges suo motu impleaded principal secretaries of industries and revenue as respondents in the petition. The judges directed that the status report should also answer as to how the illegally quarried sand from the patta lands was transported without any permits given. The case was adjourned to August 5 for further hearing.
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Madurai: Taking a serious view of the illegal sand mining activities in Sivaganga district, Madras high court on Wednesday directed the state government to submit a status report on the actions that could be taken against the taluk or district-level task force for failing to perform their duties.
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The court was hearing a petition filed by a resident of Thiruppuvanam in Sivaganga district seeking to prevent illegal sand mining on patta land parcels adjacent to the Vaigai river and from the river bed near Kannoor village. In its counter-affidavit, the government stated though permission was granted to a person for quarrying only 8,415 cubic metres of sand, he had quarried up to 24,000 cubic metres illegally. The district collector subsequently imposed a penalty of Rs 36.92lakh on him. It was further stated that there was no illegal mining in the Vaigai river bed.
A division bench of Justices M Sathyanarayanan and P Rajamanickam observed that the government had stated that taluk and district-level task force was keeping a ‘vulture’s eye’. Had the task force done its work diligently, the excessive sand mining could have been prevented. The judges suo motu impleaded principal secretaries of industries and revenue as respondents in the petition. The judges directed that the status report should also answer as to how the illegally quarried sand from the patta lands was transported without any permits given. The case was adjourned to August 5 for further hearing.
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