The indefinite relay satyagraha being staged under the aegis of Karimanal Ghanana Virudha Ekopana Samiti against mineral sand-mining at Thottappally in Alappuzha completed two years on Saturday.
On the occasion, members of the samiti held a torchlight protest at Thottappally. It was inaugurated by former MLA V. Dinakaran.
The samiti demanded an immediate halt to mining activities. They alleged that indiscriminate mineral sand-mining at Thottappally pozhi on the pretext of flood mitigation in Kuttanad and at Thottappally harbour in the name of its development had destroyed the shoreline.
‘Deep mining by dredgers’
In a statement issued here, KGVES chairman Suresh Kumar S. said that 456 houses had been destroyed in the region due to coastal erosion. “Single point dredging at Thottappally pozhi has resulted in the intrusion of seawater and destruction of paddy cultivation in large tracts. Despite knowing the environmental hazards of sand-mining, authorities have recently deployed dredgers at pozhi and began deep mining,” Mr. Kumar said.
Although the local residents, especially the fishermen community, are not against sand removal from the pozhi, which is an annual process to ensure the flow of floodwaters into the sea, they are up in arms against the transportation of the mineral-rich sand to Kerala Minerals and Metals Ltd. and Indian Rare Earths Ltd.
Case pending in SC
Earlier this year, the KGVES moved the Supreme Court against the mineral sand-mining on the Alappuzha coast. The case is pending before the apex court.
Denying that it permits mineral sand-mining at Thottappally, the government has long maintained that the sand removal from the pozhi and harbour is ‘desilting’ and ‘maintenance dredging’ respectively.
