River sand mining to resume in Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram: Heeding to the demands of those involved in the construction sector, the revenue department laws will be tweaked to resume river sand mining in Kerala. A committee headed by the law secretary will prepare a draft bill in this regard. The move is expected to increase the income of the local self government institutions, which will be a major relief to the state government reeling under economic crisis. With the change in laws, there will be an increase in the availability of river sand as well. 

The crucial decision was taken in a meeting presided by the chief secretary. It should be noted that river sand mining in the state is put on hold following a high court verdict prohibiting the practice.

In accordance with the recommendations of the union environment ministry, necessary changes will be made to the Kerala Protection of River Banks and Regulation of Removal of Sand Act (2001), in order to facilitate mining.

At first, district-level survey reports will be prepared. If a foolproof project is designed, then the river banks will be leased out to the respective local self government institutions.

In the standing audit, sand deposits were detected in 17 rivers out of the total 32. Recommendations have been made to allow mining in these rivers adhering to the environmental guidelines.

GPS mapping and satellite surveys of the rivers are done for the purpose. Further inspections will be done between February-May next year.

As per the information, sand mining will resume in rivers in the state including Achankovil, Manimala, Periyar, Bharathapuzha and Chaliyar.