The Kerala State government is planning to amend legislation [1] so that it can impose more severe punitive measures against illegal sand-miners. Dedicated district-level teams, comprising officials of the Revenue and Police departments, are also to be formed to combat illegal sand mining.

Indiscriminate river sand mining has resulted in a sharp fall in the groundwater table in wells in adjacent catchment areas and river basins. This has led to acute drinking water shortages in several parts of Kerala, forcing inhabitants to rely on water supply by private operators. Sand mining has deepened the riverbed of the River Pampa by an average three to four metres, while there are points where it has dropped by six metres.

To continue to meet the high demand for sand in Kerala, the state government is considering mining sand from silted dams and importing sand from other states. The practice of auctioning confiscated illegally mined sand would be phased out because the sand mafia itself was found to be its ultimate beneficiary. The system of engaging the Nirmithi Kendra society for distributing sand at a reasonable price would soon be made the norm, Revenue Minister K.P. Rajendran said.

[1] Kerala River Bank Protection and Regulation of Sand-Mining Act, 2001

Related news: Sri Lanka: SLWP and Water Integrity Network Partnership fight illicit sand mining, Source South Asia, 25 Mar 2009

Related article: Padmalal, D. … [et al.] (2008). Environmental effects of river sand mining: a case from the river catchments of Vembanad lake, Southwest coast of India. Environmental geology ; vol. 54, no. 4 ; p. 879-889. doi:10.1007/s00254-007-0870-z

Related web site: Pampa Parirakshana Samithy (PPS) (Save Pampa Clean Pampa)

Source: M.P. Praveen, The Hindu, 05 May 2009 ; G.K. Nair, The Hindu Business Line, 04 May 2009

Tags: policies & legislation, south asia, transparency, water resources management