Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa constituted a high power committee on Friday to probe reports about large scale illicit mining along the State’s Coastal region, particularly in Thoothukudi district. Ashish Kumar, the 33-year-old former Collector of the district, had in his report to the Government, said that massive illegal mining was rampant in Thoothukudi district.
Nearly two dozen small and giant companies are engaged in the mining of ilmenite, rutile, leucoxene and monazite. All these products command a high premium in the international market since they find application in the manufacture of materials and instruments requiring high precision. Monazie mined from Tamil Nadu coast has the world’s largest deposit of Thorium, a nuclear fuel material.
Ashish Kumar was transferred from the post of district collector following the report submitted by him to the Government. M Ravikumar, the new collector took over on Thursday and is studying the findings of his predecessor. Meanwhile, Jayalalithaa ordered a high-level probe into the findings of Kumar. Gagandeepsingh Bedi, an officer known for his integrity and honesty has been asked to head the probe and submit the findings within a month.
The transfer of Kumar had given rise to a lot of controversy with activists and social workers drawing a parallel to the punishment meted out to Durga Nagpal, the young IAS officer in UP who cracked the whip on sand mafias and encroachers in her district. But this has been Jayalalithaa’s style of operation, pointed out sources close to her.
“When the then Madurai collector U Sagayam locked horns with illegal quarrying of granite in Madurai district, the Chief Minister got him transferred to Secretariat. The new collector employed hi-tech devises to scan the entire mining operations and filed a number of criminal cases against many big-time players in the business including Daya Alagiri, son of M K Alagiri, former Union Minister for chemical and fertilizers.
There were charges that private mining companies operating along the southern coast mine even prescribed substances thorium for selling in the international market. “You please wait and watch the next step. Probably all those associated with illegal mining would end up as guests of the Government,” said a senior ADMK leader. But officials in State secretariat refused to comment on the transfer of Ashish Kumar.