Sand mining to be expedited to increase water capacity of rivers

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The revenue department will speed up sand dredging to increase the water capacity of the rivers to survive the floods and help the construction sector. Sand removal in the districts will be done in stages. The Mining and Geology department has given permission to start sand dredging in Bharathapuzha, Chaliyar and Kadalundi rivers in Malappuram. After receiving the approval of the State Environment Committee, further action will be taken.

The 'kadav' (piers) committees chaired by the chairman of the river related local bodies are responsible for auctioning the sand. These committees are under the District Level Committee with the Collector as Chairman and Environment, Labor Organization Representatives and Local Body Representatives as members.

River sand auditing was conducted by the River Management Centre under the Institute of Land Disaster Management (ILDM). Based on the auditing of 32 rivers, sand mining sites have been identified in Kollam, Thrissur, Malappuram, Palakkad, Kannur, Kasaragod, Pathanamthitta and Ernakulam districts.

Sand mining in the state stopped in 2016 when the Supreme Court mandated the clearance of the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority. The Union Ministry of Environment has also issued a notification accordingly. Based on this, the Revenue Department issued special guidelines, but the National Green Tribunal ruled in 2020 that the plan should be prepared only through approved consultants. Sand auditing was also done on the basis of this.

15 piers at Chaliyar and two at Kadalundi

• Survey of tehsildars at 15 ghats in Chaliyar and two places in Kadalundipuzha
• Feasibility of sand removal from less than five hectare area has been investigated
• The district revenue department officials want the government to take a decision for further action
• 20 jetties have been fixed on Pampa and Achankovil rivers
• 2.10 lakh tonnes of sand in two rivers