THOOTHUKUDI: A report filed by the Tamil Nadu government to the Madras High Court a few days ago in the illegal beach sand mining case shows that about 16.04 lakh tonnes of beach sand minerals have been illegally taken away and 6.62 lakh tonnes of minerals have been additionally moved into the godowns in Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli and Kanniyakumari districts. The warehouses were sealed in 2017 by the state for various violations as per a court order.
The data establishes that illegal mining of heavy minerals has been going on unchecked even when there is a ban in place across the country, and taluk-level task force committees and police had remained mute spectators to this loot of natural resources worth thousands of crores of rupees.
The Tamil Nadu government had submitted the report reassessing the mineral stocks in godowns sealed in 2017 to the Madras High Court in compliance with the orders passed by the court on September 15 and November 7 on a suo motu PIL on illegal beach sand mining.
The Sathyabrata Sahoo committee appointed by the court on April 7, 2017, had said that as many as 12 plant owners had stocked a total of 1,55,48,680 tonnes (mentioned as 1.50 crore tonnes in reassessment report) of various beach sand minerals like garnet, ilmenite and rutile in 49 godowns in the three districts.
The reassessment report filed before the HC pegged the stock at 1,33,95,735.72 tonnes—a shortfall of 16,04,581.3 tonnes compared to the Sahoo report. The report also flagged an additional stock of 6,62,191 tonnes of minerals being hoarded in the sealed godowns.
‘More than 12 FIRs have been registered against plant owners’
The total available beach sand minerals was at 1,40,57,926.66 tonnes, the report said. The report said of the 16.04 lakh tonnes of minerals looted from the sealed godowns, 1,26,672.62 tonnes are processed minerals that included 42,047.42 tonnes of garnet, 81,989.55 tonnes of ilmenite, and 2635.65 tonnes of zircon.
Among the list of companies flagged by the report for alleged involvement in illegal transportation of processed minerals, VV Minerals and IMI top the list with 89,662.08 tonnes and Industrial Mineral Company (IMC) accounting for 16,189.71 tonnes.
To prevent smuggling of minerals from the sealed godowns, Thoothukudi district administration had installed 103 CCTV cameras at 15 locations, Tirunelveli district administration had installed CCTVs at 29 locations, and Kanyakumari administration had installed CCTVs at three places.
“The plant owners had disconnected the power supply and damaged the CCTVs to hide their illegal activity. Though more than 12 FIRs have been registered against the plant owners in three districts, the breaking of government seals and illegal transportation of minerals could not be controlled due to the alleged connivance of officials and police,” an activist said.
Speaking to TNIE, a top official from Chennai said one of the plant owners has a titanium pigment plant in Thoothukudi which requires ilmenite extracted from beach sand minerals as a key raw material. Federation of Indian Placer Mineral Industries president Dr D Daya Devadas told TNIE that the report only shows that illegal mining of beach sand minerals continues even after both state and union governments had prohibited private parties from mining, transporting and hoarding them, as additional stock of 6.62 lakh tonnes have been found at sealed godowns.
The Tamil Nadu government banned mining in 2013 and the centre barred private entities from handling beach sand minerals in 2019. Meanwhile, additional chief secretary for natural resources department has sought necessary orders from the HC to hand over the entire quantum of processed minerals and semi-processed minerals stored in the godowns to IREL.
The reassessment report had also revealed an alarming presence of monazite in the additional stocks kept by plant owners in Thoothukudi and Tirunelveli. Among the 4,83,198.255 of semi-processed additional stock, 6448.362 tonnes was monazite. While VV Minerals has a stock of 4494.465 tonnes, BMC has 65.806 tonnes, IMC has 77.115 tonnes, IOGS has stocked 1211.434 tonnes, EMRL has 561.608 tonnes, and Miracle sands has 37.934 tonnes of monazite, the report said.
Monazite is a radioactive mineral and a prescribed substance under the Atomic Energy Act and the private players are prohibited to handle it due to national security reasons. IREL India is the only government undertaking having been allowed to handle monazite.
16 Lakh tonnes of minerals gone
The Sathyabrata Sahoo committee appointed by the HC on April 7, 2017, had said that 12 plant owners had stocked 1,55,48,680 tonnes of beach sand minerals like garnet, ilmenite and rutile in 49 godowns in three districts. Reassessment report filed a few days ago shows 16.04 lakh tonnes of beach sand minerals have been taken away from these godowns