THOOTHUKUDI: Illegal removal of beach sand minerals (BSM) from sealed godowns in the southern districts would not have been possible without the connivance of government regulatory agencies, says the court appointed Amicus Curiae Dr V Suresh in his report submitted to the Madras High Court and demanded an investigation by a specialised agencies. This comes after a reassessment report was filed in November 2023, which shed light on the unlawful transportation of BSM from sealed godowns between 2018 and 2022.
The Natural Resources Department had conducted the reassessment exercise to ascertain the stock of beach sand minerals stashed in the godowns in Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli, and Kanniyakumari districts in 2021-22. The first assessment report, headed by the Sathyabrata Sahoo committee, had revealed in 2018 that the godowns had a total stock of 1.5 crore tonnes of BSM. The reassessment report of 2023, however, recorded an availability of 1.33 crore tonnes of BSM — a shortage of 16.04 lakh tonnes and also found additional stock of 6.62 lakh tonnes that were illegally quarried elsewhere. In total, around 1.4 crore tonnes of BSM is stocked in these godowns as of 2021-22.
The stock of 16.04 lakh tonnes of BSM that was illegally transported, includes raw sand, semi-processed, and processed minerals. Amicus Curiae Dr Suresh informed the court that these minerals contain moderate to high levels of radioactive mineral monazite. Illegal possession of nuclear mineral like monazite with privateers, he said, is a loss to the nation.
“illegal transportation of such huge volume of BSMs could not have been executed without the support and connivance of government regulatory agencies. It appears that the mining companies were able to brazenly remove stocks, confident that government agencies like mining department officials, revenue, and the police will not stop them,” Dr Suresh stated in his report to the court, and called for an investigation by specialised agencies. Suresh also dismissed the allegations levelled by some sand mining companies about deficiencies in the modus operandi of the study undertaken by the Reassessment Inspection Committee, which includes the Atomic Minerals Directorate and the Department of Atomic Energy.
He also noted that the district inspection committees have reported that the samples were collected in the presence of representatives of each company, and that one of the three portions of the sample so collected was handed over to the respective companies. The Amicus Curiae also denied allegations questioning his findings.
An official said that these reports lack findings related to the whereabouts of the 16.04 lakh tonnes of BSM. Since there was a blanket ban on the export for these minerals, he added, these are purchased by very few companies within the country.