State should step up watch at Coimbatore elephant corridor to prevent illegal sand quarrying, says HC
The bench perused the field inspection report filed by the district judge of Coimbatore, which stated that nearly 5.48 lakh cubic metres of earth had been quarried from the reserve forest, including the area covering Karadi Madai
Madras High Court (File)
CHENNAI: A special bench of the Madras High Court expressed its disappointment over the report on illegal sand quarrying submitted by the police and said the State lacks surveillance to prevent the unlawful activity at the elephant corridor in Coimbatore.
Without the connivance of officials from the Mines and Geology department, the offenders cannot transport such a massive quantity of sand, observed a special 'green' bench of Justice N Sathish Kumar and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy while hearing a batch of cases seeking to prevent illegal sand mining at the reserve forest and elephant corridor in Coimbatore.
The bench perused the field inspection report filed by the district judge of Coimbatore, which stated that nearly 5.48 lakh cubic metres of earth had been quarried from the reserve forest, including the area covering Karadi Madai.
The bench questioned how the police, and the mines and geology department were unaware of the illegal quarrying of sand, which is transported with thousands of lorries. Without the connivance of the officials, offenders could not mine and transport such a massive quantity of sand, asked the bench.
Additional Advocate General (AAG) J Ravindran submitted the action taken report in this regard, which stated that criminal cases were registered against 47 offenders and others are absconding.
The bench, in turn, questioned what can be the result of filing cases against lorry drivers without finding the sellers and buyers at the root of the issue. They wondered why the investigating officer could not narrow down the illegal sand suppliers and their clients.
The green bench also noted that it was evident from the report that there is a lack of investigation, monitoring and surveillance to prevent the illegal mining.
Furthermore, the status report is silent about restoring the forest land and mitigating the aftermath of the rampage done to nature by quarrying several acres of land, said the bench.
The petitioner submitted that some of the brick kiln owners, who had local political support, committed the offences; hence, the police kept silent without any action. The State is ready to do whatever the court directs to prevent the offenders from quarrying the sand, submitted the AAG.
The bench directed to remove the roads and bridges illegally laid down by the miscreants to transport the sand. It also directed incorporating technologies to monitor the area to prevent illegal mining. After all the submissions, the bench adjourned the matter without any date for pronouncing orders.
