The Madras High Court on Thursday came down heavily on the mining mafia in Tamil Nadu and appointed U Saga-yam, an IAS officer of proven integrity, to probe all mining contracts and licenses issued to various private companies. The order is in response to a PIl filed by activist KR Ramaswamy.
Tamil Nadu has become notorious for illegal mining of sand, rare minerals and granite. last year The Pioneer had reported about massive illegal mining and export of monazite -rich sand from the southern districts of the State. This include Thorium-rich sand from the beaches of Kanyakumari, Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi.
According to the Department of Atomic Energy, beaches of southern Tamil Nadu are home to 30 per cent of the global Thorium reserve, a material which could be used as fuel in nuclear reactors.
Since the country’s scientists are yet to develop the technology of Thorium powered nuclear reactor, private mining operators are exporting the Thorium-rich sand to countries in Europe and the American continent. The Department of Atomic Energy itself has said that there was no facility in most of the ports in south India to detect the illegal export of Thorium-rich sand.
A bench of the Madras High Court consisting of chief justice Sanjay Kishan lal and justice M Satyanarayanan said in their ruling that Tamil Nadu has been ruined to such an extent that granite and rare minerals were being illegally exported to foreign countries. “Sagayam is appointed as special officer/legal commissioner by the court to visit and inspect mines and submit a report to the court to satisfy ourselves that action is being taken,” said the judges.
Interestingly, it was Sagayam who first reported to the Government of Tamil Nadu in 2012 about massive illegal mining of granite in Madurai during his tenure as district collector. His initial reports said that granite worth Rs 15,000 crore has been illegally exported from Madurai. Though the Jayalalithaa Government cracked down on the illegal granite mining, Sagayam was transferred out of Madurai.