CHENNAI : Reiterating that illegal sand mining in the State will be tackled firmly, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Thursday said that during the previous AIADMK regime headed by her, the government had taken over the sand quarrying business to prevent illegal mining and to protect water resources. The government also took steps to make available sand at a reasonable cost while increasing the revenue of the State government. On the directions of the Madras HC, a high-level committee was also formed.
However, after the change of government in 2006, illegal sand mining became rampant TN. “The Madras HC was forced to pass orders in 2010 to stop sand mining in Tamaraparani river for five years,” she pointed out.
Referring to stray incidents of illegal sand mining in some parts of the State, the CM said there were reports that officials who were trying to prevent these had been assaulted.
In one such incident on May 12 in Tirupattur taluk, attempts were made to kill and bury VA Rajendran by the mining mafia.
When he attempted to stop the trucks carrying sand, gangster Tirupathi and five others assaulted him. They also tried to bury him. However, the VA was saved as a six-year-old girl who raised an alarm.
Tirupathi and his associate Govindarajan had surrendered before the court and steps were being taken to get them in police custody.