The coastal region of Kollam district is blessed with vast mineral wealth. Until now, only the Central Government and the State Government had the right to run companies and factories related to offshore sand mining. If they were in any other country, these companies would have become world-famous and would have earned a large share of the state's income. However, despite years of work, the Central and State Public Sector Undertakings operating in this sector have not achieved any significant achievement for the state. Modern technology is required for mining. The lack of it has held back the public sector undertakings. Large private companies are better able to carry out mining by bringing modern technology from abroad. Since minerals are the great wealth of the country, it is not the right policy to allow only public sector undertakings to mine them. Although the central government recognised this a little late, it has decided to welcome private parties in this undertaking.

The Union Ministry of Mines has invited tenders for offshore mineral mining in 13 blocks in the country after the amendment to the Offshore Areas Mineral Act, 2002, was brought in 2023. The deadline for submitting tenders has been extended to April 2. Reports in this regard indicate that the first offshore sand mining in the country will be from Thangassery to Chavara in the Kollam district of Kerala. The first mining area is 27 to 33 kilometres north of Thangassery in the sea.

The Congress and the Fishermen's Congress have come forward with a protest against sand mining. There is concern that if mining is carried out, fishing will be stopped and fish stocks will decrease. Mining is taking place in many countries of the world. The central and state governments should appoint experts to inform the fishermen who are concerned about the real situation in these places.

Ours is a country where a lot of false propaganda is done whenever a new project comes up. When boats were first used for fishing, people who went fishing in canoes opposed and stopped it. The reason they used to say was that all the fish would run away after hearing the sound of the boat and that they would not catch any fish. Time proved that all this was wrong. Similarly, campaigns have now started that if mining takes place, the entire seabed will be disturbed. If the authorities do not make an effort to dispel concerns related to mining and to explain the facts, the activities to undermine the mining project through false propaganda by emotionally agitating the people will accelerate. Such campaigns were also carried out against the Vizhinjam port in the beginning. It is not true that the people behind this are all locals. It was only later understood by the people that America was behind the protest against the Kudankulam nuclear power plant. Therefore, the society should be vigilant and adopt a cautious approach regarding offshore sand mining.