Chennai: “The Tamil Nadu government should abandon its decision to open 13 new sand quarries in rivers including the Cauvery and Kollidam in Tamil Nadu,” said PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss.
In a statement issued by him on this, he said, “Reports have emerged that, citing a shortage of sand for construction work in Tamil Nadu, the state government has decided to reopen 13 sand quarries, and that 4 contractors have been selected to transport sand from the quarries to the yards. Even knowing the damage caused by sand quarries, attempting to reopen them is condemnable.
It is said that most of the sand quarries that are about to be opened are located in the Cauvery irrigation districts. Following the Enforcement Directorate raid, and after the sand quarries operating in Tamil Nadu were shut down in 2023, efforts had been underway for more than the past 3 years to open new sand quarries. While the Pattali Makkal Katchi had been strongly opposing this attempt to turn the Cauvery irrigation districts into a desert, it was not possible under the DMK government because of the party’s strong opposition.
Just a few weeks after the assembly election and the formation of the TVK government, efforts to reopen sand quarries were resumed. Government sources spread news that the quarries would be opened with satellite monitoring to prevent sand smuggling.
I had issued a statement on July 14 last year that sand quarries should not be opened under any circumstances. After that, while efforts to start sand quarries had been put on hold for some time, media reports now say that the government has decided to appoint new contractors and begin sand sales online within a week, and that as many as 13 sand quarries may be opened in the first phase. This is proof that the TVK government is following the same approach as the DMK government in the matter of quarries.
The lesson we have learned from past experience is that sand quarries lead to sand theft and, through it, environmental degradation. When the State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority approved the opening of 25 new sand quarries in 2023, it had stated that only a maximum of 7.51 lakh units of sand should be excavated from them, and that the sand quarries should then be closed.
However, the Enforcement Directorate’s investigation found that in just two years, more than 27.70 lakh units of sand had been illegally extracted from only over 10 quarries. Even if sand quarries are monitored by satellite, it is not possible to control sand theft.
To carry out construction work in Tamil Nadu, 60,000 truckloads of sand are needed every day. Of this, 35,000 truckloads are obtained through artificial sand sources, while the remaining 25,000 truckloads are obtained through quarries. Each truckload can carry an average of 3 units of sand, with each unit measuring 100 cubic feet. Accordingly, from each newly opened sand quarry, an average of 5,769 units of sand will be extracted daily in 1,923 truckloads. From 13 quarries, about 2.74 crore units of sand will be extracted in a year.
If sand is extracted at this rate, nearly 10 times more sand than what was looted over two years under the DMK government will be officially extracted in a single year. If so much sand is officially extracted, rivers including the Cauvery, Kollidam, and Vellar will dry up within a few years, and the entire Cauvery irrigation region will turn into a desert. Rivers like the Cauvery and Kollidam cannot be destroyed in a worse way than this.
It is simply not acceptable to allow the opening of sand quarries on the pretext of a shortage of sand for construction work. Opening sand quarries in the Cauvery irrigation districts is not the only option to address the shortage of construction sand. There are many alternative ways, including importing sand from foreign countries. Opening sand quarries at will without exploring all those options is a betrayal of the environment.
Therefore, the Tamil Nadu government should abandon the decision to open new sand quarries in the rivers of Tamil Nadu, including the Cauvery and Kollidam. Instead, I urge that the plan to import river sand from foreign countries, including Malaysia, be implemented.” he said.